Not Your War
by CornetHummy
Summary: The arrival of two aliens disrupts events on Chorus and complicates the lives of a group of ragtag soldiers, one ex-Freelancer and a planet embroiled in war. Meanwhile, Garnet is missing after a disastrous mission, and the remaining Crystal Gems may need to cross time and space to help her. Takes place during Season 11 of Red vs Blue and before "Catch and Release."
1. The Five Hundred Year Error

_Chorus, Mountain Region_

"You know, you should probably rest at some point. At least remember to drink some water. I'm just saying! If you collapse I'm basically stuck here and no offense, but that sounds boring."

Agent Carolina smiled as she trudged around the snow-covered mountains, scanning the area for movement. "Thanks, Mom, but I'll be fine." Even if Epsilon tried to hide his concern behind selfish motives, she understood where it was coming from. "Besides, if I'm going to rest it's not going to be out in the open like this. Would be a hell of a place for a firefight."

Some part of her thrilled at the idea. Her heart pounding as she sped through the frozen pine forest, knowing an enemy could lurk around every cliff or near every rock formation, using Epsilon to calculate the exact perfect angle for a sniper shot, that rush of adrenaline that came whenever her life was in danger, all of it had a certain appeal. It _would_ be a hell of a place for a firefight.

"Okay, fine. Sheesh. And never call me 'Mom' again." Epsilon's digitized voice spoke to Carolina through her helmet, though he wasn't bothering with his blue holographic projection. "It's just too weird, you know? How 'bout 'nagging big brother who is Wiser and is monitoring your health signs and knows you're probably going to forget to eat again?'"

"We'll start with 'nagging' and negotiate the rest."

Epsilon humphed. "Hey, some of us don't get to eat! Or, uh, can't. We..." His voice abruptly dropped off, the last few words suddenly sounding distant and distracted.

"Epsilon, what is it? You pick on something?" Carolina pressed her back to a tree just to be sure, staring around her. No movements, nor even the suspicious air shimmer that would indicate a cloaking device.

"Nah. Uh, sorry. Just, you know. One of those memories that isn't mine. They just come out sometimes. It's annoying." That was the Epsilon-Church-downplays-something-troubling voice. Carolina knew it well.

She sucked in a breath. "Do you want to talk about it? Was it one of Alpha's?"

"No, it was-it was one of _his_. You know. You'd run around all the time when you were little, especially when it snowed out and you got to build snow forts with the neighborhood kids, and they'd have a hell of a time getting you to come back inside for dinner. Sorry, this is weird, isn't it? It's so damn maudlin, like God, he was an asshole and..."

"...Yeah. No, it's fine." Carolina wasn't sure whether to smile or throw up whenever one of the Director's memories manifested strong enough for Epsilon to talk about it. She suspected they weren't completely accurate, copies of copies, mixed and corrupted by Alpha's mental state at the point the AI had been driven to create Epsilon. "He was an asshole." An asshole that loved her at some point.

He was dead. It was over. There was no point in questioning his motives anymore, or wondering when he started being 'The Director' and stopped being 'Dad.'

"So! Yeah, total asshole. Man, I should scan for things. Scan. For things." Epsilon's voice rang with false, forced energy as he performed a scan Carolina suspected was just for show, possibly more for his own sake than hers. "Hey, wait. I'm picking up on something kind of weird."

Carolina stood up straight. "What? Where?"

"I don't think it's a person. A weird heat signature to the west, not far off. Maybe 40 feet away? It's not moving. Might be some kind of artifact, but it doesn't read like one..."

Whatever it was, it was a welcome distraction. Carolina liked goals. When she had a goal and a focus, she didn't think too hard about her situation. She just lived. "Well, we're gonna find out."

Epsilon's directions led her to what was at first glance a nondescript spot in the mountainside forest, save for one blackened tree having been split in half. Brushing away the falling snow revealed signs of something having crashed or fallen here, though the impact was far too small to suggest a meteorite or even a small explosion.

Something glinted under the snow.

"I think that's it," Epsilon said. "The signature's coming from there. It's just-it's not something I recognize."

Carolina brushed the snow away, revealing a shimmering blue gem the size of her palm. She carefully lifted it and tested its weight. There was something familiar about this, something mentioned in the thousands of training seminars that made up the early parts of Project Freelancer.

"A gem with a strange heat signature. Isn't that..."

The gem flared a brilliant blue-white as Carolina instinctively pulled her hand away with a shout and a curse. It floated in midair, surrounding itself with an aura of light that rapidly reshaped itself into a humanoid form. The figure had blue skin and long white hair that obscured most of her face. She wore a layered blue ball gown, the gem implanted into her palm.

She looked up at them for just a moment, Carolina and Epsilon both too stunned to say anything. It was the gem being who spoke first.

"Agent Carolina and Artificial Intelligence Fragment Epsilon. Hello."

* * *

 _Beach City, Earth, Three Hours and Five Hundred Years Earlier_

"I can't believe this!" Pearl scowled as the light from the teleporter faded. "I'll bet Peridot did it. Would she really bring it back online just to get ahold of Homeworld?"

"Uh, yeah? She's a jerk. A Homeworld jerk." Amethyst stretched as she stepped off the platform. "Come on, Steven! I bet we get to smash something."

"Really?" Steven asked from atop Garnet's head, where he'd ended up perched. She didn't mind. "Because this place at least looks kind of nice. Can't we just turn it off instead of smashing it?"

The Time-Space Palace was indeed a marvel of Homeworld architecture, a circular structure with walls of seashell fossils painted over with instructions in mural form. The central room was alight with glowing tubes of colored liquid bubbling up and down, the tubes running along the walls and shrinking into glassy veins as they reached the ceiling. The floor was rock-hard and transparent; beneath it one could see a clock with a hundred thousand hands pointing in all number of directions. At the center, just above the middle of the clock, a translucent orb hovered, crackling with energy. It was, Garnet had to admit, beautiful.

"No. It needs to be smashed." Garnet gingerly set Steven down, dusting him off and smiling. "Now pay attention. This thing's always been a little haywire, so we don't know what might happen." Though she said that, little glimpses of 'what might happen' danced at the edge of her subconscious. Her Future Vision was awakening, though nothing alarming set it off.

Pearl took the lead, very carefully walking along the thin spiral pattern lining the floor. "Just follow me and make sure to step on the line. The security system is probably a mess at this point."

"Uh, yeah!" Steven took very careful steps, one foot after the other, stumbling a few times. Garnet walked behind him to keep an eye on him. "I'll be on my guard! Uh, Pearl. What is this thing we're smashing?"

Pearl rolled her eyes and glowered behind her at a grinning Amethyst. "We're not _smashing_ it. We're just taking the control jewel and deactivating it again, and bubbling it so nobody can use it anymore. This was a Homeworld experiment, an attempt to create a meta-warp system that would cross not only space but time itself. They were going to use it for-well, we were never sure exactly, because it backfired and most of the Gems involved in testing it were lost."

"Vanished, into thin air. Poof!" Amethyst paused. "Uh, I mean I wasn't there. But that's what it sounds like."

"Neither were we," Garnet said. "Homeworld canceled the experiment and brought it offline before we got here. We just ensured it was unusable. Or it should've been."

"No sign of Peridot, though..." Pearl frowned.

Steven gave another curious glance at the floating orb. "What if she used it already?"

"Then that orb in the center would have been depleted. It generates energy to be used to power the warp." Pearl paused in her steps. "Do you think it brought itself online? But...why?"

"...It's lonely." Steven had stopped too, and was still looking at that orb. "It wanted some company."

"I don't think it's self-aware, Steven...at least, I would hope not." Though Pearl sounded hesitant, she was clearly unwilling to dismiss his input wholesale. It probably reminded her of the warp incident with Peridot, Garnet realized; it certainly reminded Garnet of it.

Light flickered in the orb, and lightning crackled.

And Garnet saw what would happen, as vivid and horrifying as it was every time she saw a future claim Steven's life.

"Steven! Get down!" She leaped over and shoved Steven away, watching the floor beneath her illuminate as the security system was activated. The electricity struck her and all went white, like the blinding shine of a warp times twenty.

Wherever she was she couldn't hear the other gems or Steven anymore, could only feel the sensation of her own body being pulled in a thousand directions. Something grabbed at Ruby, something else at Sapphire. Garnet felt the splintering of herself that happened when the two were forced apart.

 _Sapphire! Sapphire, hold on! I'm not letting you go!_

 _It's okay, Ruby. We won't be far. I'll see you again._

The last thought the two gems had in union was a desperate hope that Steven and the others were safe.

* * *

 _Chorus, Crash Site Bravo,_ _Roughly_ _Three Hours_ _and Five Hundred Years Later_

"Ugh..." Ruby rubbed her head after she regenerated, getting back on her feet. A Ruby never rested long, she reminded herself, no matter how much Sapphire tried to get her to relax.

Sapphire. _Sapphire._

The intense, burning loneliness hit before Ruby could even assess where she was. She was in a small cave somewhere, and it didn't matter. She didn't care about the smell of dry grass, the summer heat or the sound of machinery and voices outside. Her senses were overwhelmed by the reminder that she was alone, Sapphire was somewhere else and Steven was far, far away.

The Future Vision was gone again, and losing it was like missing an eye. She could see, but what use was it when she could only see the present? When the future was unclear and ambiguous? Sapphire had promised they'd see each other again, but when? How?

"Oh, great. This is just great!" Ruby kicked at a nearby crate about as tall as she was, shattering the wood and sending the contents spilling everywhere. They were small, round things, which she ignored or kicked around as stress relief. "And here I am, useless again! I can't even concentrate. How am I going to find her if I'm just panicking? Okay, okay, calm down." She made herself take deep breaths. It didn't have the same kind of relaxing physical effect it might on a human, but the practice helped. "I just need to find out where I am, when I am, and where Sapphire is. Then we just need to refuse, figure out how to get back across space and time and deactivate the Time-Space Palace while making sure the others are safe. Yeah! Easy! Not an intimidating task _at all._ "

"Do you hear something?"

Ruby froze up as she heard the voice, hiding behind another crate. The voice sounded human, filtered through a radio, though the footsteps sounded heavier than she would have expected. The reason soon became clear to her as the first humanoid came into view at the cave entrance, silhouetted by bright sunlight. They were wearing full body armor, in a style of which Garnet hadn't seen on Earth before.

That was probably a good sign Ruby had ended up in the future instead of the past. Darn. If she were on the past of Earth, she could have found the Crystal Gems of that era and hoped it wouldn't break the time-space continuum too much. That gave her a very vague sense of when she was, and absolutely none of where. Progress.

"I don't want to go in there!" The one in orange hesitated at the entrance, a pudgy figure shorter than the one in red. "There's bats. Those caves have bats."

"Then just run fast for once in your life so the bats can't catch you, asshole! Sarge told you to go check on the tertiary storage unit and me to keep watch." The maroon one was a lot taller, though Ruby could tell little else about him. She wasn't even entirely sure she was dealing with humans after all. They weren't Gems, but that didn't mean anything. There were any number of sapient species in the universe.

Ruby realized a little too late that there were little flickers of flames at her feet eating up the bits of splintered wood and dead leaves. She always did have trouble keeping control of that. Hoping that the two tall figures would be too distracted by their argument to see her, she began sneaking towards the entrance.

"Hey," the taller one said abruptly as Ruby had almost reached the entrance. "Do you smell smoke?"

"I dunno, man, I barely smell anything anymore. Nose blindness. Trust me, it's for the best."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Maroon shook his head. "Just, uh, don't we keep ammo in there? You know, flammable materials."

Ruby's eyes widened.

She had enough time to shove the two armored figures away from the entrance and leap away herself, rolling into the grass before something went off in the cave like fireworks. The explosion was thankfully contained, though the cloud of black smoke it left behind was not.

"Uh..." Ruby sat up on the grass, staring up at the two coughing, confused figures and hoping against hope that they were at least friendly and forgiving of emotionally charged power malfunctions. It didn't take them long to notice her, and stare right back. "Hi."

She really missed being tall.

(Author's note: I've been posting this over on Archive of Our Own and decided to crosspost it here. It's another case of me taking two things I like and mashing them together. It's made for fun writing in the past, so why not? There's going to be a mix of humor and drama, and perhaps some Grimmons here and there? Anyway, hope you enjoy the ride! I'll be crossposting the rest of the chapters here in the next few days until it's caught up to the AO3 one and then I'll update them both at once as I go.)


	2. Aliens Among Them

_Chorus, Northern Sector, Mountain Region_

"Uh, so." Epsilon really wasn't sure how to begin this conversation, but he figured that'd never stopped him from running his mouth before. "You know our names before we told you them. That's a thing."

"Yeah," said Carolina, heart rate elevated as she took a cautious step back. "What the hell are you."

"The more polite term is 'who,'" the floating blue girl said as she lowered herself down on the snow, skirts trailing around her. "For future reference. My name is Sapphire. You were going to tell me your names sooner or later. This saves time."

"Soooo it does." What the Hell. While he watched her through Carolina's HUD, he ran through the UNSC records that had made it into his systems still intact. He knew what this alien was! He was sure of it. Damn enhancements eating up his processing power and slowing him down. This shouldn't have been taking him a whole 5 seconds.

"You're about to remember that I'm a Gem, and before you realize I'm not hostile, Carolina is going to threaten me in case I am. The result will be a potentially dangerous misunderstanding, and I don't have time for that." Despite her soft voice, Sapphire spoke with authority and force. There was no question in her tone. "I have to find Ruby. As I'm not a combat-oriented Gem, I'd prefer an escort."

"Okay, no. Screw that." Carolina took a step forward again, though she didn't move a hand towards her weapon this time. "You apparently know all kinds of things about us. Sorry if I don't trust that for a moment."

"Hold on." Epsilon chose to project his hologram this time so Sapphire could address them both. "Could you at least just tell us how you know all this stuff about us already?"

"Since officially we don't exist anymore," Carolina added, narrowing her eyes behind her helmet.

"Aaaand why you're here against UNSC laws."

"...Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize I hadn't told you yet. But this is not a convenient time to explain." Sapphire looked over her shoulder. "They're about to find us. Your enemies, I mean. I suggest running if you don't intend to help me."

Sure enough, within seconds Epsilon's scans confirmed it. "Yeah, we've got hostiles coming in over the ridge. Might be the pirates." He tried not to be too sore about being upstaged.

Carolina stared down at Sapphire, Epsilon unsure what she was thinking. She was remarkably good at hiding her thoughts even from him, and he was synched into her own mind.

I don't know about this. He opened up a private channel to her. It could be a trap. A really, really weird trap. But the pirates aren't working with Gems as far as we know...

So you do know what they are. It wasn't a question on Carolina's part, but Epsilon could sense her curiosity and restlessness. She really did want a new challenge.

Yeah, I found the files. Who's got your back, like always? I'll give you the rundown in a little bit. I have no idea why this gal is predicting everything, though. That's some creepy shit.

There was a pause before Carolina's reply. I know this is going to backfire on us somehow. But we did go out here to...try to be heroes for once, didn't we?

Epsilon had no answer to that. She was right; heroes didn't leave others to die. Whatever bit them in the ass this time, it wouldn't be karma.

With no more words, Carolina swooped down and grabbed Sapphire under her arm. She took off running as Epsilon applied speed boosts and cloaking technology, though the latter would be of limited use in the brewing snowstorm.

"Thank you." Sapphire held on tight. The energy signal coming from her rippled. Epsilon prepared himself for something he'd have to shield Carolina against, in case this was a trap after all. Instead he noticed his speed boosters getting an enhancement, Carolina now running just a little faster.

"Hey, Epsilon! Showing off for our guest here?" She ducked under a spray of gunshots and slid along a bank, whipping around and returning fire to the pirate who'd spotted them.

"Uh, yeah! You know, just here to make you look cooler and stuff." If Sapphire wasn't going to take credit, Epsilon thought, no harm in doing it himself.

Sapphire, for her part, seemed as unfazed by the battle as shed been by anything. She held out her hand, her Gem glowing. A thick sheet of smooth ice manifested under the feet of the pirate, who slipped and fell hard with a muffled curse.

Carolina glanced behind her and whistled. "Okay, so what was that about being a non-combatant?"

"I wasn't lying. Also, she's only stunned. We should run while we can. If you stay, she'll fatally wound you with a headshot."

"...You are so damn weird." But Carolina didn't question it, taking off again. Epsilon, falling quiet as he monitored her life signs and maintainted her enhancements, could sense through their connection the same thoughts he was having.

 _What. Even. The Hell?_

* * *

 _Chorus, Crash Site Bravo_

"Five hundred years." Ruby stared down at the crowded, dusty floor of `Red Base' and tried not to scream. "I'm five hundred years in the future. How could this have happened to me?"

"Well, that depends! Did you happen to blink in front of any stone angels?" At least the tall, maroon soldier who called himself Simmons was trying to help when he wasn't doing his desperate best to sweep the floor. Saving his life had earned some goodwill. "Wait, I think those just send you to the past. Any experiments involving plutonium? Encounters with a man in a blue Police Box? Contracts with a fuzzy rabbit thing? Run-ins with a kid and a talking dog?"

The orange one rolled his eyes as he sat back in a lounge chair, tossing candy wrappers and used cigarettes to the floor at the same rate Simmons automatically threw them in the trash. He had his helmet off, which confirmed for Ruby that she was in fact dealing with humans in armor. The face beneath was light brown and unshaven with patches of peach on the cheek and the eye, bordered with scar tissue. "Are you really just using this as an excuse to be a nerd?"

"At least I'm trying to help! She obviously wasn't here when we arrived, so if we can figure out how she got here, we can use that method to leave!"

"Through time?" Orange, or Grif as it seemed, lit another cigarette.

"Right now I would take that over spending another five minutes in this garbage pit!" Simmons gestured around at the clutter of bottles, wrappers, crates intact and broken and strewn socks covering the floor of the small, dimly lit base. "I swear to God I am about this close to joining Blue-"

"Augh!" Ruby jumped down off the counter where she'd been sitting, smashing a broken potato chip when she landed. "I really don't have time for this! Sorry again about blowing up your stuff, but I need. To. Find. Sapphire!"

"Yeah, you've said." Grif, who seemed just as unconcerned with a sudden alien encounter as Simmons did, held up a hand. "Okay. Calm down first. I'm getting secondhand stress from you here and it's affecting my ability to do my job."

"I am calm!" Ruby snapped.

At the same time, Simmons barked out, "What job? You're not doing anything!"

"Uh, cuz there's too much stress here? I just said."

Ruby felt energy rush to her cheeks, the air heating around her as shame and embarassment took hold. Of course this was her problem, not theirs. She shouldn't expect humans to take on her problems. What would Garnet have done? She would have handled it on her own. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Grif, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just-everything is going wrong and...why are you staring? I'm not setting anything on fire again, am I?" She looked around her, recognizing the telltale ripple of hot air but no smoke. Those wrappers were definitely flammable.

"Um." Grif looked up to Simmons, then back down at Ruby. He set down the half-melted chocolate bar. "What were those words you just said right there?"

Simmons snorted. "Don't listen to him. This is just Excuse Number Whatever he has for not doing anything." Though he sounded just as puzzled.

"What? I mean, if you make someone uncomfortable you should apologize. It's just..." Ruby glanced down at her feet and stomped out a tiny tongue of flame before it caught on anything else. "Okay, I really can't be in here right now. You're right, there's too much stress and I always do this when I'm alone and I'm sorry. I'll take care of it myself. Thanks again for listening!"

She took off running through the entrance to the base, stumbling through a grassy meadow and stopping only when she knew she was out in the open with her powers stabilized. How did Sapphire do it? How did she manage that level of control over...everything? They had it as Garnet, that much she knew. Fine, what would Garnet have done?

Garnet would assess the situation, figure out where she was and how to get out. If she needed the help of the locals she'd get it; otherwise she'd leave them out of it. Even armored humans didn't need to be drawn into dangerous Gem business.

Ruby was in a canyon with high walls all around, spotted here and there with caves and rock formations. Footprints in the dirt and muddy spots roughly matched the boots Grif and Simmons were. They were all adult-sized; the only smaller ones she could see were her own. So there were likely no human children here.

She could hear a waterfall somewhere in the distance. For a place occupied by soldiers this canyon was peaceful; in better circumstances, she would have liked to take Steven to someplace like this as Garnet.

Steven is 500 years in the past, Ruby reminded herself. If you want to see him again you have to take action now. But what action? She could easily climb those cavern walls, though that wouldn't bring her any closer to finding Sapphire or a way back. It might at least give her a better view.

Her gaze landed on a makeshift radio tower in the center of the valley. Could she make any use of that?

"Oh, a small person!"

A shadow loomed over Ruby from behind. She whipped around immediately in a combat stance, about to summon her gauntlet, when the large human in dark blue armor bent down to look at her curiously. There was no malice in that body language.

He tilted his head. "Can I call you Freckles II?"

* * *

 _Nearby, Perhaps_

 _"So it's one of them?"_

 _"Likely. The description matches."_

 _"The 'description' of their species is pretty broad. I mean apparently some of them can be nine feet tall and purple. Control didn't think there'd be any here, aside from the obvious, but Control also seems to think these idiots are gonna be useful to us. So what do they know?"_

 _"This one's small. It's already made contact with them."_

 _"Well, then it's obvious what we need to do, right? Control told us that if we do by chance come across any 'visitors' who aren't on the expected guest list, so to speak, we take care of it. Apparently Control's good friend didn't handle all the whistle-blowers in their ranks after all. How very careless."_

 _"Fine. What's your plan."_

 _I show up just in time to save the 'Heroes' from you, the monster who killed their new alien friend."_

 _(Transmission pause)_

 _"What? It can be done. Aim for the gem parts, remember? Are you saying you can't do it, Locus? Control really wouldn't want to hear that."_

 _"I've said no such thing."_

 _"So until we hear otherwise from Control, we're just cleaning up an unexpected loose end."_

* * *

 _(Author's note: So! Hope you're enjoying the story so far. If you know RvB well, you've probably noticed a few tweaks to the world building here. Suffice to say this is slightly AU in ways that will become more apparent in chapters to come. (It's also going to diverge pretty wildly from the canon Chorus Arc, because what's the point of just rehashing the same story?)_


	3. Pearl Seeks Garnet, Red Seeks Blue

_Earth, Time-Space Palace, Approximately But Not Precisely 500 Earth Revolutions Earlier_

"Steven! Be careful!" Pearl reached out towards him as Amethyst snatched him back with her whip, all three of them staring at the place where Garnet had been standing before the ceiling-mounted security system began raining laser fire. It was better to focus on keeping Steven safe and think about the current situation than dwell on the fact that Garnet had just vanished before their eyes.

Well, maybe not better. But easier.

"But Garnet! Is she in there? In the orb thing?" Though messy tears welled in his eyes, Steven still managed to react quickly, forming a pink bubble barrier around himself and his remaining two guardians. "Wait, you said it's a time thing. What if she got sent into the past? What if she has to fight a dinosaur? Or Julius Ceaser? What if she ends up making an alternate timeline, too?!"

No matter how many times Steven had told her that story with the boy band, Pearl wasn't sure she understood it. At the moment it didn't matter; he needed reassurance, whatever Pearl could give.

"We can't do anything to help Garnet until we shut down the security system. I don't even know what caused it to activate! It looked like it was going after..." Pearl hoped Steven didn't notice how her hands were shaking, or how tightly she was holding her spear. She had to be strong for him.

Steven slumped, and Amethyst put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright! Not your fault, Steven. Homeworld tech is just weird."

"And this one's been left to rot for centuries. I wouldn't be surprised if its system's gone corrupt. If I can get a chance to look at it..." Pearl narrowed her eyes. Curious that the security system hadn't activated until after the warp mechanism kicked in. Was this some kind of trap, meant to lure them in? And if so, why was it targeting Steven specifically? Was Peridot that devious?

She had a brief flashback of Peridot firing off every laser in the ancient crashed ship and hitting nothing. No, Peridot was never this subtle.

"Just leave that to me." Amethyst, eyes narrowed, waited for Steven to lower the barrier before she dove forward. She leaped into a spinning buzzsaw attack that turned her body into a whirling lavender blur. The speed and force boost allowed her to weave through the lasers and even plow through a few, leaving only singe marks on her long white hair.

"Careful!" Pearl called out, holding her spear out protectively near a nervous, shield-bearing Steven. "We have to take out the lasers without damaging the internal mechanisms, or else...!" Or else Garnet is gone forever. No. She couldn't let herself consider that possibility. She couldn't go through losing another Gem, not so soon. Not when Garnet had finally started to trust her again.

"Hey! I'm plenty precise! When I wanna be." Amethyst flipped back onto her feet, reached up and latched her crystal-barbed whip to the turrets mounted just above the floating crystal orb. With a good, hard yank she managed to bring them down, sucking in a breath and lunging to catch them before they fell on the orb. She succeeded, barely.

If Pearl had ever bothered to manifest a stomach, it would have tied itself in knots. "Amethyst, I said careful! That's careful!?"

Amethyst scowled, clutching the turrets to her chest. "It didn't break, okay? And now it's safe for you to start doing engineering stuff on it to get Garnet back."

"It's...not that simple." Pearl gingerly approached the floating orb, which had gone still. This she could handle. She could analyze things! "I was prepared to figure out how to shut this down for good so we could collect the gem powering the mechanism. I didn't expect we'd have to use it..."

Steven peered at his reflection in the orb, which continued to float but looked strangely dull. "Seems like it's kind of, I dunno, asleep. Why do you think it tried to zap me?"

Amethyst winced, looking over her shoulder at Steven with a sympathetic gaze. "It's probably just corrupt, like Pearl said. Don't think too hard on it!"

"Remember the Desert Glass? It started activating and malfunctioning due to long term corruption." Pearl was examining the orb, her reflection distorted by its curvature. "The problem is, we can't just turn it back on. It sent Garnet to a randomized location in time and space, one we probably couldn't access even if the Galaxy Warp wasn't broken." With every word, she felt emotional exhaustion and a sense of defeat creep over her. It was no way to approach such a momentous task before it even started. Why couldn't she control her own emotions better? She was supposed to be the logical one.

Amethyst placed a hand on her arm after setting the turrets down, and Pearl stopped shaking. She gave Amethyst a weak smile before the two looked over at Steven.

"Steven." Pearl knew this was going to be difficult but necessary. "You…should probably go on home. This might take a while."

"And you're really tired, bud," Amethyst added.

Steven rubbed his eyes. "I'm not tired! And I don't want to go back right now. Garnet's my teammate too and I want to help her!"

Oh, he was using the assertive voice. Pearl would be proud of him if she wasn't trying to argue with him. "You can! But…" She tried to smile unconvincingly. "This is sort of…"

"It's gonna be really boring," Amethyst warned. "Gem tech."

"I don't mind boring! And besides, uh." Steven rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I'd rather be here with you two than back at home by myself. With everything going on. I can keep you company! Because I don't think you should be alone either…"

"…You would?" Pearl felt tears coming on and tried to stifle them. The emotional impact of everything was starting to settle on her, and here was Steven trying to offer them support while they worked. She couldn't bring herself to send him away now.

"And besides," Steven continued, "Peridot's out there. What if she decides to kidnap me and I have to finally win her over as a friend but I can't do it properly because I'm too worried about Garnet and I miss out on the chance forever?"

"I don't think Peridot would kidnap you," Amethyst said. "She's not that dumb. But alright, alright. You can stay." She grabbed him and gave him a hug. "Right, Pearl?"

"Yes." Pearl hoped her voice wasn't catching too obviously. "Yes, well, time to work! And don't worry, it isn't going to be boring. Maybe it'll be educational! I just need to analyze the frequency of this control gem and start off by finding a way to determine where and when Garnet was sent."

"…Uh. Are you sure you need to do it that way? Because I kind of wonder…" Steven pointed to the crystal floor beneath them, with the massive, multi-handed clock splayed out below like a sunburst. "Maybe this has something to do with it…"

* * *

 _Chorus, Crash Site Bravo, 15:00 Local Time_

"He ran off again?"

At Agent Washington's question, Tucker just shrugged. "Yeah, dude, he was just mumbling to himself and trying not to sound suspicious. And by that I literally mean he said 'Hello Tucker, I am not suspicious!" at the top of his lungs. He's up to something."

Wash wrinkled his forehead. "Caboose. Is up to something."

"Look, I've seen this before. Caboose takes it really bad every time Church dies or fucks off or whatever he's done this time." Tucker might have let a tiny bit of bitterness slip into his usually flippant tone, unless Wash had imagined that. "I mean, last time he figured out how to use alien tech to get Epsilon Church online."

"Yeah, I know." Wash let out a deep sigh and paced across the rocky floor of the makeshift Blue Base. "So what, you think he's gotten his hands into something else?"

"I don't know. He's just really bad at keeping secrets. Maybe I should get him a girlfriend when we're not a million miles away from anyone anywhere."

"We're not a million miles from-look. I'll try to keep him busy. Give him more drills to run, keep his mind occupied." Wash wasn't sure how else to help Caboose, who really had lost his best friend. (Well, in Caboose's own mind. Wash wasn't sure if either incarnation of Church even liked the big guy.) How had Wash dealt with loss in the past?

By shutting out his emotions and becoming a giant asshole for a while. Right. Probably wouldn't work for the remaining Blues.

Tucker's aqua-helmed head whipped around to glare at Wash. "Run drills. Is that all you know how to do, dude? Just boss us around for some conflict that. Isn't. Happening?"

Well, Wash had managed not to lose his temper on Tucker for a full fifteen minutes. It`d been nice. "Adrenaline and exercise improve your mood and psychological well-being. Maybe we should consider upping your daily routine, Lavernius."

"See? This is all about control for you. You big, bad Freelancers still think we're a bunch of losers when we're the ones who saved your ass from-"

"HELLO EVERYONE! I found a friend."

Caboose's cheerful bellow silenced Wash and Tucker both as they slowly turned to look at the entrance. The Blue soldier stood there holding something small in his arms, a figure standing at about the height of a child but with a muscular build that better suited an adult. She had thick, curly maroon hair and bright red skin, large eyes glaring daggers at anyone who looked her way.

"Put. Me. Down," she hissed in a low voice, smoke rising from Caboose's gloves as she did.

"This," Caboose declared cheerfully, "is Freckles Two The Second. She has a name she has said a lot but I keep forgetting it so I made one up. She is going to be my new best friend and an alien pal who does not bite me or go off to have babies with Tucker and she knows all kinds of space curses! She is small and angry and not at all like Church." He paused and added, "by the way, there is no Freckles I."

"Look," the alien snapped, "I don't like attacking humans because it's really unfair and I don't want to hurt this guy-"

"She has burned my gloves together!" Caboose interrupted. "It's neat. Church did not have superpowers other than being small and angry and blue and I do not miss him anymore."

"You're his commander, right? Order him to put me down, or I'll have to hurt him!" Wash observed that as angry as she appeared, the humanoid alien wasn't struggling against Caboose's strong grip. She was standing rigid, as if intentionally holding herself back.

He also caught a glimpse of a red gem on the palm of one hand, and his blood went cold.

"Caboose," he snapped. "Put her down."

Caboose groaned, but set the Gem down and distracted himself with trying to remove his welded gloves. The Gem sighed in relief, looking up at Wash. "Thanks, I-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Wash had his rifle lowered and aimed right at her. He remembered his briefings. Gems were hard to kill, but a powerful shot could incapacitate them.

"You're in violation of UNSC treaties. The presence of a soldier-class Gem on this planet can be seen as an act of war. Don't play stupid." Wash held his gun steady. "Where are the rest of you?"

 _Rubies: Combat gems, low-ranking. Frequently travel in attachments of two or more, capable of fusing into a larger and more powerful form. They can generate extreme heat from their bodies and are physically powerful._

Wash never forgot a briefing.

The Ruby stared wide-eyed at his gun, holding up both hands in surrender. "Hey, hey, hold on! I'm not gonna hurt you, honest!" She did a double-take. "Wait. You...know what I am? What's UNSC?"

She sounded genuine, honestly confused and a little frightened. Wash hesitated for a moment before he recalled images of skeletal planets, hollowed out and filled with artificial crystal constructs, their lifeless surfaces dotted with jagged, festering canyons.

 _The chances you'll encounter a renegade Gem are rare. But a Freelancer is nothing if not prepared._

"Jesus, Wash! Would you calm the fuck down for ten seconds?" Tucker spoke before the Ruby could respond, much to Wash's annoyance, approaching her from the side and ignoring his rifle. "Sorry, he's kinda nuts. Wash, I mean. I'm the alien ambassador here, so you can totally listen to me and ignore those two. Name's Tucker, but you can call me-"

"Tucker," Wash hissed through gritted teeth. Shouldn't he have learned about the Gems from the Sangheili? Didn't he know what the presence of a gem meant for this planet? "Step away from her."

"No, wait, listen!" The Ruby waved her hands in front of her frantically, big eyes wide. "I'm not-I'm not a threat! See? I didn't even summon my weapon!" She looked around, biting her lip before recognition seemed to hit her. "Oh, of course! This is the future, by now you must have...anyway, I'm not with Homeworld. Promise. See?" She gestured down to her tank top uniform. "No diamonds on it."

Wash didn't lower the gun, even with the look he knew Tucker was giving him under that helmet. "You can shapeshift. Uniforms can change. Believe me, I should know."

"I'm really not a danger to you. I'm a Crystal Gem! Well, half of one, technically."

"...a what?"

"A rebel for justice! I'm not with Homeworld, I promise. And as soon as I find Sapphire, I'll be out of your hair and never interfere in your military operation again." Her hands shook, and Wash thought he saw steam coming out of the edges of her eyes. Tears of frustration, super-heated. "This has been an absolute nightmare and I have a-a kid to go back to and..."

The old Wash would have fired. Those were the orders-shoot on sight, collect and secure the inert gem for interrogation later.

So when he let his gun fall to his side, Wash could only hope following his newfound conscience didn't backfire on his team.

"Um, yes, please do not shoot Freckles II! She told me that too, that she only wants to find Sally." Caboose sounded relieved. Considering his sometimes haywire protective instinct, Wash couldn't help but wonder how he would have reacted if Wash had fired. There had to be some benefits to being adoped by Caboose

"Sapphire," the gem mumbled miserably, the grass around her turning blackened. "I didn't want to involve anyone else in case it got dangerous. We should never drag humans into our missions like this. After your teammates found me..."

"Wait, hold up. Teammates?" Tucker pointed around the base. "It's just us here. Unless you mean the Reds?"

The Ruby frowned. "One of them was wearing dark red. You're not part of the same operation?"

"What, the Reds? Nah, we're Blues! Except we're kind of part of the same group. Except not, because sometimes people decide we're still pretending this whole thing matters because we're bored. Uh, the only thing you need to know is that Red team sucks. Oh, and Sarge gets way too into it even though he knows it's fake just as well as I do." Tucker shrugged. "But you seem cool! I like aliens. In fact..."

"Tucker. Let me handle this." Wash made note of a few more things to inevitably argue with Tucker about later, when they weren't making alien contact. "So you think there's only one other Gem on this planet? You can swear by this?"

"As far as I-wait." Ruby stood rigid and still, looking considerably more spooked than she had when Wash had pulled a gun on her. "This planet? This isn't Earth?"

All the Blues fell silent, even Caboose, glancing around at one another.

"Yeeeeah," Tucker sighed. "You're off by a chunk of the galaxy. Believe me, if this were Earth we wouldn't be left stranded!" A beat. "I think."

"You honestly thought you were on Earth?" That raised even more questions. Only a few gems were said to live on Earth, and they...wait.

Crystal Gems. Where had he heard that before?

The Ruby stared out at the wall for a moment, and then cleared her throat. "Can you guys step back for a moment to give me some space? I can't tell how heat resistent your armor is."

"Fairly," Wash answered, though he complied and gave the Ruby a wide berth, as did Tucker.

"AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!" A pillar of flame shot up all around Ruby, leaving her a silhouette wrapped in brilliant red and yellow before it flared out. "THIS IS JUST! MY! LUCK! That stupid thing not only sent me 500 years away from Steven, it shot me who knows how many star systems away! Possibly forever! And Amethyst and Pearl are going to lose their minds without Garnet, I know it! They don't handle stress. And Steven, Steven's gonna blame himself and...and..."

The flames died away, leaving the small gem sitting down in a pile of blackened ash. Wash hoped they could clear that smoke out of the base soon, or it would smell like charcoal for weeks.

"...Are you done?" Wash asked, and waited.

"Yeah. I think so." The Ruby didn't sound happy, but she'd at least literally blown off steam. She'd be easier to communicate with when she wasn't in a panic or stressed out.

"Um, you see?" Caboose stood behind the Ruby proudly, though she paid him little mind. "She is not like Church at all. Church does not make fire."

"Good observation, Caboose. A-plus." Tucker approached the Ruby again, kneeling down. The gesture surprised Wash, who was used to seeing Tucker use cocky body language at all times. "So, let me get this straight. It sounds like you got separated from some others? And some guy named Steven?"

"And Sarsaparilla," Caboose added in a tone that suggested he was trying very hard to be helpful.

"Sapphire," the Ruby said weakly. "She's my other half."

"Damn." Tucker snapped his finger. "I mean I wondered, but-"

The Ruby gave Tucker a dirty look that Wash had to agree he'd earned. "Amethyst and Pearl are our teammates, and Steven...uh, we're his moms. I think Sapphire was taken here too. No, I'm sure of it! I felt us brought here together. The others are back there on Earth, in the past..."

Something snapped together in Wash's mind. "Wait. You said '500 years.' You're not just from Earth, you're from the past of Earth." Were there alien artifacts capable of actual time travel? Lord knew humans weren't there yet. And this was too ridiculous-sounding to be a cover story, unless an invading Gem force somehow knew enough about the Reds and Blues to estimate their heightened sense of what was too weird.

"...Okay. We'll figure something out." It was better than sitting around stewing and waiting for Donut and Doc to arrive while he and Tucker grew ever closer to strangling one another, Caboose continued to cope poorly with events and Sarge continued to find reasons to ignite old feuds. Besides, if this planet did somehow have alien tech capable of transporting an alien through time and space, that might be their best ticket out. It at least meant there was something worthwhile beyond the canyon.

Even if that meant possibly leaving the crash site, making it much harder for anyone to actually find them.

"Yeah! I like the idea of going on a mission that isn't motivated by someone pulling a gun on us and bossing us around this time. It's been a while. Would be a nice change of pace." Did Tucker give Wash a meaningful look there, or did Wash imagine that? "Don't worry, I'm an expert on aliens and ladies. So tracking down alien ladies should be nothing."

"Uh, thanks." The Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "I really didn't want to involve anyone else, though. Especially not humans. No offense. But...where's that music coming from?"

 _Oh for fuck's sake._

"BLUE TEAM!" Sarge's bellow rang over the Tejano music as the jeep pulled up near the entrance to Blue Base. "SURRENDER THE ALIEN YOU HAVE KIDNAPPED! AS A RED ALIEN SHE IS A DESTINED MEMBER OF RED TEAM! YOU GREEDY TRAITORS ALREADY HAVE ONE ALIEN!"

"Sorry, Ruby," Grif called out somewhat unenthusiastically. "We were telling Sarge what happened so he wouldn't blame me for the ammo exploding, and SOMEONE accidentally let it slip that you're, you know, reddish. And then he blamed me for the ammo exploding."

"I had to describe her somehow!" Simmons sputtered. "Don't worry, Ruby, Sarge is a great leader and this is just his way of reaching out to help! Also, did you know Lopez 2.0 has an MP3 player?"

 _"Esto no es estratégicamente útil en absoluto. Estoy muy confundido."_


	4. Weird Floaty Blue Things

_"Diver, this is Rider. Have some news about that little problem our pals have been complaining about. You know the one?"_

 _"Well, someone's practically giddy. I don't know whether to take that as good or bad news."_

 _"Oh, but this is just so exciting! You are not going to BELIEVE what she's found. Or should I say who...? Just here, I'll send you the footage."_

 _"...Well, I'll be-is that even possible? I thought they didn't make Sapphires anymore."_

 _"Oh, they don't. You know what this means. We bring her in, and Control is going to be very pleased with us. But what should I do with Miss 'Little Problem?'"_

 _"Control gives us a lot of freedom there. Personally I think it'd be kinder to take care of her quickly. You know, before Felix decides to take it into his own hands."_

 _"Well, I do try to be kind!"_

* * *

 _Chorus, Mountain Region, Future Uncertain, Night_

Sapphire could sleep, but did not. It wouldn't recharge her energy or preserve her health the way it did for Carolina, who was curled up in an abandoned base on a bedroll thrown over the dusty floor. Getting her to do so, and to eat some of her dried rations beforehand, had been a bit of a struggle for the being she called Epsilon, resulting in several arguments between the two before Carolina had succumbed to her exhaustion.

Steven would sometimes resist sleeping too, though Garnet had never needed to convince him to eat.

Thinking about Steven just made Sapphire feel worse than she already was, as if the eerie quiet of the ruined base and the sound of wind rushing outside weren't enough to put her ill at ease. There had been inhabitants here once before, though Sapphire could guess the collapsed parts of the ceiling, burn marks on the walls and stray bullet holes made it clear where they'd gone.

It seemed Epsilon did not sleep either. His presence meant a quiet hum and a holographic blue projection sitting by her, tiny and busying himself with invisible tasks. She wasn't sure she liked him very much, what with his foul mouth and constant sarcasm. In fact it was odd seeing him so...quiet. She could speak to him and take her mind off of uncertainty and loneliness, but she could foresee a frustrating conversation.

Then again, what was it Greg always said? Something something porkchops hotdogs imperfection. And he was helping her.

"What are you doing?"

"Wuh?!" The blue projection jumped at the sound of Sapphire's voice. "Oh, uh. Hey, alien lady. Decided to do something besides stare at that wall?"

"It's a nice wall. The crack is in the shape of a kitty cat."

"...Yeah. Uh, okay." Epsilon scrached his head. "I was just running-ha, holy shit, you're right! Looks like Garfield. I was just running some numbers through, checking on Carolina's vitals, making sure she's actually getting a full sleep cycle this time. Monitoring for heat signatures in the area. You know, AI stuff."

Sapphire remained seated on the pleasantly cold floor, just turning her head to face Epsilon. "What is an AI?"

"Oh! You really don't have AI?"

"I've seen them mentioned on television, but I prefer watching...nothing, really. I don't like television." Sapphire could do conversation without Ruby, see? She was asking and answering questions.

How did Ruby do it so readily?!

Epsilon was quiet for a long moment. "...Right. Uh, it means Artificial Intelligence. I'm a computer program with thoughts and self-awareness, I guess. Technically you'd call me a Smart AI."

"A smart intelligence?"

"Look, I know it's redundant. Like idiots talking about ATM machines or PIN numbers. I didn't make it up. It's just-the difference is-look, don't worry about the difference or the details. It's just, you know. I'm a computer."

"Ah." Gems had computers, though none that had thoughts of their own. Sapphire tried to think of something relatable to say in response. The idea was fascinating, humans developing something living but not human. "Oh. Do you have many sheep?"

"...Sheep?"

"I'm sorry. Rams. How many rams do you have?" If Sapphire was talking with a computer, she imagined it was only polite to discuss computer-related things.

Apparently she was incorrect, because Epsilon stared at her again. "You are...so strange."

"Well, I am an alien." Sapphire smiled. "I admit I never had much interest in technology, aside from video games. I didn't want to offend you by saying so, though."

"Video-video games? Video games. You're a distant Gem alien stranded on a planet in the middle of nowhere and you just happen to play video games?" Epsilon sounded more amused than anything else. Maybe she'd finally managed to get on his good side with that. "You know what? Sure. Today's been weird enough. After we find your Ruby friend and before we get you back to wherever, we can hijack Simmons's Playstation 207 that I know he brought with him and I can beat your ass in Street Fighter."

Sapphire glanced beyond the present for a fraction of a second. "I would accept, but we're going to find out the Playstation was used to serve macaroni and cheese. 'Simmons' will be very angry at someone named 'Grif' for this."

"Haha, yeah, I bet Grif-" Epsilon's form froze and flickered, and he turned to face her again, a hand to his forehead. "Okay, wait, wait. You're doing that thing again. Before we go any further, I need to know what the fuck is up with that."

"What is up with what?" Perhaps, Sapphire thought, she could lead against foul language by example.

"You keep saying shit like that! Like..." Epsilon flattened his voice in a poor imitation of Sapphire. "Carolina, you'll find shelter if you go east and get buried in an avalanche if you go West. I know your names already. This isn't eerie or suspicious at all.' I mean, don't get me wrong, we said we're gonna help and we're gonna. But you really can't give us a little clue of what you're doing? I can run algorithms to predict certain probabilities, but nothing on that level. Nothing in my files on Gems say anything about you having that kind of technology or power. I mean..."

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, body language hesitant. Was he afraid of her?

Well, this conversation was inevitable, though Sapphire had to admit she'd been saying just the right thing here and there to delay it as long as possible. As a consequence, she'd now need to have it twice or hope her explanation to Epsilon was thorough enough that he wouldn't pass on the wrong information.

"I can see the future. Most Gems cannot. This is a gift unique to Sapphires." She looked Epsilon right in the eyes, or where they would be if he were unmasked. She wondered if he had a face beneath that mask at all.

"You...can see the future." A beat. "Holy shit, really? I mean that doesn't make any scientific sense, but neither does about half the stuff I've been through at this point. Jesus, did you hit the superpower lottery or what? No wonder you keep showing me up every time we run into hostiles. Wait. We don't even need to investigate this pirate stuff further. We can just ask you what's going on with this planet, can't we?"

And that was just the response Sapphire had feared. Future Vision was so little understood by those who didn't have it, so easy to exploit and misinterpret. She sighed, turning back to admire Garfield on the wall. "I am afraid it's not that simple. The future is a fluid, changing thing. It frequently surprises me when it should not. Even Gem technology is not flawless. And here, I think because I am displaced in time myself, it is more unclear. I can see possibilities in the immediate future just fine. Past that..."

"Come on, give it a try! I mean, we are kinda putting our asses on the line for you here. We're not asking you to solve this problem for us, just help us figure out what it is. Just one peek or whatever, then I swear I'll never ask you to use it again. Just...wow! Things going our way for once! Wait 'til Carolina finds out. I mean, she'll probably be disappointed and think it's too easy. She wants a fight like all the time. I swear, once we figured out something was going on she got this look like...a kid in a candy store."

Sapphire looked down at the sleeping woman, her red hair spilling out of her bedroll. She recalled how Epsilon remained in his visible form next to her even while she slept, how he seemed to be hovering over her like a guardian even as he went about his strange duties and conversed silently with no one.

"You care for her and fear for her safety."

Epsilon startled, taking a step back and waving his hands. "What? I-okay, don't let her hear you say that. She will be so pissed. And offended! Pissed and offended at me for like a week at least. You ever get the silent treatment from someone who has a neural link with you? Really fucking uncomfortable, trust me."

"I may know a little something about that. And she cares for you as well. I understand." Sapphire hoped she would not regret what she said next. "I can look forward into the future of this place for your sake. And for Ruby's. But please remember your promise." She closed her eye, preparing herself.

"Dead serious, from one weird floaty blue thing to another."

"...Floaty blue thing." Sapphire smiled. "Alright. I'll see what is to be seen." She opened her eye again, focusing past the empty barracks, past Epsilon and Carolina. They faded into warped shapes as the horizon of time unfolded beyond them.

Ah, there was the complication. This had happened once or twice during the war, too, after she'd met Ruby. The most likely future, the one that swelled up before her among waxing and waning possibilities, was never the one set in stone. She'd learned that when she'd fused with Ruby in the first real surprise of her life.

Here, the futures seemed to bubble and swirl before her like molten lava. She could grasp only glimpses of words. Seeing the fate of a planet was much harder than envisioning a localized event, such as the reunion she was sure was inevitable between herself and Ruby.

And in the strongest future, Chorus died.

Waves of light washed over cities. Armies mowed one another down, the last survivors of a land with no civilians or children left. Something glimmering and enormous, an energy beam, tore through what she knew to be a shelter of some kind. Trees were flattened by an impact.

A great black skull, and a voice like an earthquake. "...No one will ever find you, no one will save you, and no one will stop us from killing everyone on this planet!"

The images dissolved into disorder around her, playing out of order and fragmented. Epsilon becomes light. Epsilon becomes a great red glow around Carolina, who seeks more...more what? A man in orange stabs a man in aqua. Someone with no human face recognizes their father. Someone mourns their father. Steven mourns Garnet. A great figure in blue holds Ruby's gem, protecting it. Contradicting futures overlap one another, what could be and what must not be.

Why? Why, even when she seeks the most likely trajectory of events? Why are there so many futures where Chorus dies, and why can't she find the one where the truth is revealed?

The man in the skull mask is back. He's readying his rifle. He fires at-

* * *

"Sapphire! Sapphire, shit! Church, what did you do!?" Sapphire's inert body chilled Carolina through her armor. Whatever Gem bodies were made of, `hard light' according to Church, it didn't weigh much. Which was perfect when Carolina was on the run again, adrenaline making up for her lack of sleep.

 _I-I don't know! I just asked her to use her power. She didn't seem to think it was dangerous! And she's just been...like that._ Church spoke through the implants, likely too busy keeping track of their new enemy to do much else. Did he sound guilty? I think they go into their gems when they're badly injured. She's just wigged out.

Hissing through her teeth in frustration, Carolina whipped around to throw a shield up around herself and Sapphire. The glowing dome flared around her seconds before she was hit by another shower of explosive gunfire. The shadowy form who had crashed into the abandoned base wasn't letting up their pursuit anytime soon. That meant they didn't want what was in the base, which was now a flaming wreck. They wanted her.

She readied her rifle as the shield dissipated, launching a wave of cover fire before rolling behind a boulder. Reaching into her belt, she holstered the rifle and grabbed a grenade with her free arm, waiting for just the right moment as the pirate stepped closer.

On their own, she and Church could put up a hell of a fight against anyone. Carolina had no doubt of that. But right now she was carrying an incapacitated alien.

Their footsteps were just a touch too slow and heavy. A quick glance revealed a towering figure in black armor with off-white highlights, carrying a massive rifle as if it were weightless. They carried themselves with a confident swagger, letting out a low chuckle.

"Didn't mean to scare you." Her voice was too soft and lackadaisical to match her form.

 _Holy shit. She's like-Meta big. Bigger._ Church ran through formulas at such a speed that it felt like a warm buzzing in the back of her head. _Rogue SPARTAN?_

 _Who knows. Not sure I'm in the mood to ask her._

"Now, come on." The SPARTAN, if that's what she was, paused in her descent down the slope. "We're both reasonable here, right? You're quite the smart one if you are the same person we've been trying to keep an eye on."

"You're trying flattery? You must be new to this." Carolina reminded herself she still had her shields and enhancements if she needed to make a rapid getaway. But the SPARTAN had that swagger and snark that suggested the cocky-type, the sort who might inadvertently leak information in the process of gloating or attempted intimidation. She also looked big enough to uproot a tree with her bare hands, which was why Carolina kept her grip around the grenade.

"Flattery? Oh, no. I'm just saying we can work something out! I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but I'm a pretty efficient, peace-loving person. Excess violence is a lot of work." The SPARTAN spoke slowly, as if she'd just been woken from a nap. "And I think you know what I'm after."

Ah, good. Big Gal was going to reveal a goal. "Really, now. Considering how the past few minutes have gone, I've been assuming it's me."

"You? Oh, don't flatter yourself! You're just a little problem." The SPARTAN nonetheless kept her rifle ready, clearly fully aware that the two were in a standoff regardless of 'negotiations.' "And I'll be willing to overlook you entirely if you just hand her over."

Well, that was not what Carolina expected at all.

"Yeah, not happening." She made sure to wrap a stronger, more protective arm around Sapphire.

"You just met! Haven't known her very long, have you? I can help turn her over to the proper authorities. You don't owe her anything, and believe me when I say you will be avoiding so much trouble for yourself this way."

Carolina had to admit, she would have expected a powerhouse like that to attack directly. Maybe she didn't want Sapphire harmed for some reason, though that seemed unlikely. Odds were higher she really was hoping for Carolina to just hand over the apparent target, as if everyone was just as self-interested as the average mercenary. But what the hell did the pirates want with Sapphire?

The SPARTAN chuckled as she raised her rifle. "Especially if you take advantage of my overlooking you, turn around on the nearest ship and go home. Forget this, forget her and go be a hero somewhere else! You seem like a nice little person. You don't want to die meaninglessly."

She was so god damn smug and self-superior. She sounded like...

 _"Better luck next time, Carolina."_

No. Tex was a different monster in black armor. At least she seemed that way before Church had told her everything. It was pretty hard to shake that image of Agent Texas.

 _Okay, Epsilon, what strategy can I use to punch the shit out of her and keep Sapphire safe? Because I want to punch the shit out of her._

 _I mean me too. By the way, I don't think she's an actual SPARTAN, but I'll tell you more later. That said, we may want to take advantage of her huge goddamn ego and get out while we can._

 _Better idea. You remember that maneuver old North used to pull...?_ Not for the first time, Carolina was glad her helmet hid her smile.

In one moment, Carolina whipped around and threw the grenade at the big not-SPARTAN, who broke from her swagger to leap away from the contained explosion of fire and snow. Carolina herself slid down the slope, taking advantage of the distraction she knew wouldn't take down her opponent to let the still-entrance Sapphire rest between a cluster of scraggly pine trees nearby. She reached over and detached the shield unit, tossing it beneath Sapphire as it activated itself. A shimmering dome appeared the blue alien, impenetrable from either side.

 _Eh, I dunno,_ Epsilon said, his "voice" warping to echo Theta. _North had a litle more style._

Carolina didn't have time to debate the point with her AI partner. The mercenary thundered in, leaping over a fallen tree and landing with a thud with her rifle ready. The explosion had stunned her, but she was clearly still kicking.

"You're not the kind to mind her own business, are you." The false mellow tone was gone, the mercenary's voice hoarse and a little ragged. Clearly, Carolina had woken her up. "Just need to learn to leave well enough alone when it doesn't concern you." She punctuated her words by swinging the huge rifle at Carolina as a blunt object.

This person was used to fighting soldiers, Carolina noted, not Freelancers. She ducked the swing and rolled under it, delivering a fierce roundhouse kick to the nameless enemy who returned with a heavy punch. From there it became the old song and dance Carolina remembered from countless training simulations, covert missions, break-ins and at least one fight in a nightclub.

Carolina was faster, but the mercenary hit like a truck. The pain was easy to ignore when Carolina was on the adrenaline high she'd missed so much. In the back of her mind she held onto a reminder: the mission. You're on a mission. You're not here for the thrill of the fight.

"Remember," the mercenary huffed, "all you had to do was walk away from all this. You brought it on yourself." She smashed a huge fist into Carolina's midsection, hard enough to be felt through the armor."She's not your problem."

"And never learn your name? I'm not that rude." Carolina slid back to get herself out of melee range, which seemed to be where her opponent was most comfortable. "Come on, what is it? You seem like the edgy nickname type."

"I wouldn't say Rider is edgy-" Rider froze as soon as she seemed to realize she'd revealed information about herself, as insignificant as it likely was, and was taken off guard by the spray of gunfire from Carolina's rifle. She fumbled with her own enormous rifle, accidentally setting off a shot over her own shoulder into the mountainside.

A soft, ominous rumbling drowned out whatever Rider was about to say.

"Oh fuck," Carolina spat at the wave of snow cascading down the mountainside behind Rider. "Epsilon!"

 _Yeah, I get it! Sorry, I couldn't pick up on it while running the shield remotely. Shutting it down now, enhancing speed now, run for it!_

As Epsilon's digital voice cracked in her head over the neural link, Carolina made a leaping dive for the unproteced Sapphire. She caught the gem in her arms and rolled back onto her feet, glancing back just fast enough to see Rider's form engulfed by the avalanche.

Much as she wanted to gloat, Carolina also wanted to avoid the same fate. She dashed ahead of the wave of snow, looking for anything she could use as some kind of shelter. Instead she found herself heading down towards a ravine, the sort that might conveniently catch the snowfall from the avalanche only if she managed to jump it. And considering the surprising width of the jagged crack in the mountainside, that was questionable even with her enhancements.

Carolina had a bad history with cliffs.

"Okay, Church." She grit her teeth. "Hope you have a plan..."

"I do."

It wasn't Church who spoke in that soft, aloof voice, and it certainly wasn't him who formed a sheet of ice under Carolina's feet, allowing her to slide off the edge with enough speed that she made the leap across the ravine with Sapphire in her arm. She landed hard in the snow, holding Sapphire to her chest again so she'd take the brunt of the blow, staggered back to her feet and gave herself a few more yards as the snow tumbled into the ravine. Only then did she realize how her heart was pounding in her chest, her lungs burning and her bruises aching where that damn mercenary had landed blows.

She ignored it, instead looking down at her small alien charge. "You picked a hell of a time to rejoin us here."

"Yes. I apologize. Something about this place interferes with my Future Vision. When I tried to figure out what it was, I got caught up in it." Sapphire didn't sound alarmed, but her voice lacked the pride and certainty with which she'd spoken earlier.

"Future Vision, huh." Carolina sighed, looking back up at the half-buried slope. "Could have used that earlier."

A flicker of light danced on Carolina's shoulder as Epsilon displayed his holographic avatar, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, uh. I feel like this is partially my screw up, although I swear to God this time I'm not entirely sure how. But whatever happened there, if it was my fault...sorry?"

"Well!" Carolina stifled a laugh, knowing it would hurt her chest again. "You've got him apologizing. That's new."

"Hey, screw you! I can apologize. For things. Sometimes." Epsilon huffed. "And I was talking to Sapphire, not you."

Sapphire actually smiled, though most of her face remained hidden by her hair. She looked up past Carolina's shoulder at Epsilon. "It's fine. I would have attempted something like that sooner or later anyway. I hate uncertainty. It was fate."

"Okay." Carolina crossed her arm. "I'll pretend I understand any of what just happened now. We didn't realize you'd made some enemies here, Sapphire."

As Sapphire removed herself from Carolina's arms and floated back to the ground, her smile faded. She seemed once again to look somewhere far off, though this time she wasn't lost there for more than a second.

"...Neither did I."

* * *

 _"Is that-yes, that's your distress signal. What is it now?"_

 _"Avalanche. They could happen to anyone. I want to go back to base and rest."_

 _"And you can't just dig your own way out? You're a big gal. You don't need me to hold your hand through this."_

 _"...Oh, don't lecture me. You're starting to sound like Locus."_


	5. Things Done For Love, Which Is Stupid

_Stupid Fucking Canyon In the Middle_ _of G_ _od Damn Nowhere_

 _Time That Could B_ _e Better S_ _pent Asleep_ _in_ _Grif's_ _Opinion_

Grif was regretting several things. He regretted waking up that morning, as usual. He'd meant to make sure Simmons was alright and not actually going to flip out on him or join the Blues or something, but he couldn't find a non-embarrassing way to bring it up.

And now he, thanks largely to Sarge's insistence that the Reds 'recruit' Ruby to keep her from the evil Blues, was caught up in what was either Blue drama or alien drama. His experiences with both sucked, but at least alien drama didn't lead to fighting Tex. That was something.

Most of all, he was thinking about those times he noticed how it never seemed to rain and the sun never set, because now reality had found a new way to mock him. For once, the simmering, hot jungle climate decided to act like a real jungle. Black clouds gathered the moment they started setting out, and soon enough it was raining. Coming down in sheets, hard enough that the lowest part of the valley was beginning to flood.

And of course they couldn't wait for the rain to let up! Not when everyone else was caught up in the chance for an exit or just the novelty Ruby brought. Not that Grif would have slept through it anyway, not when it reminded him so much of home and Kai. And how he hadn't heard from Kai in forever, and hadn't seen Hawaii in years, and was just so very, very tired of canyons. The whole universe was one big Blood Gulch just finding more ways to trap him in giant holes in the ground containing explosions, bats and Sarge.

But that, Grif assured himself, had nothing to do with his crankiness. He just didn't want any more trouble, and Simmons kissing ass through forced positivity was getting on his nerves.

"I actually don't mind this," Simmons said brightly and unconvincingly. He marched sure-footed through the muck, favoring his cybernetic leg. "We needed motivation and a new goal! I could tell we were getting restless, antsy and agitated with one another over things that weren't a big deal."

"You mean you were. I was just fine waiting for rescue." That was also a lie, Grif admitted as he trudged through the slippery, thick mud. "And minding my own business. We should try it sometime!"

"Oh, I was totally fine," Simmons said, as if he hadn't been two stray cigarettes away from a panic attack that morning. "My books say I need to focus on the positives of a situation." He waited a beat and lowered his voice. "I am kind of with you on minding our own business, though. I mean, it sounds like we're just helping an alien find her girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I guess we're crusaders for love now." Grif grunted. "Love sucks, dude. All that bullshit we went through with Church and Tex? That was love. Went nowhere good."

"Hey, speak for yourself! I'll have you know I've had a lot of really hot girlfriends who have all been in love with me. At least 60!" Simmons's voice cracked as he aggressively defended his own heterosexuality. "And there are other kinds of love. Love of a cause. Love for your country. Love of a father figure! Or of siblings, or..."

"Hey, leave family stuff out of it! Fuck causes, by the way." Grif smacked away a low-hanging fern that left a smear on his helmet. "I mean love-love. Goopy 'I'd follow you into Hell just to be in the presence of your stupid face' garbage. I don't go for that stuff."

Simmons paused. "I dunno, dude. That was pretty poetic in a way. Minus the 'stupid face' part."

"...It was?" Grif felt heat rush to his neck and cheeks before realizing he was having a pesky emotion when he was supposed to be annoyed at Simmons over something. "I mean, I don't care! I told you, it's all a load of-"

"A load of what?" a brash, female-sounding voiced asked from below.

Grif jumped and slipped back into the mud, startled at how Ruby had just appeared by his side and not a little guilty about talking about her behind her back. "Weren't you up at the front?"

"I wanted to make sure the whole team was alright! I'm a soldier too, remember? Oh, uh, sorry." Ruby grabbed Grif's hand and pulled his considerable bulk back up to a standing position easily, despite her very short stature. "Did I scare you?"

"Yes," Grif said. "I mean, no. I mean, you're really just keeping an eye on us? But, uh, we're sort of your..."

"Team, at the moment. Sarge said I'm on Red Team now, and Agent Washington said I should just go with it." Ruby grinned, the rain jus steaming right off her as it hit her body.

"Alright Sarge!" Simmons fist-pumped. "I mean, uh, welcome to Red Team? It kind of sucks."

"It's total bullshit is what it is. But better than Blue Team." Grif whistled. "We're way more, uh...

"There's less..." Simmons searched for a word.

"Drama," they both said at once.

Ruby, hopping from rock to rock on the wet surface of the cliffside, just shrugged. "I think it's an honor. I'm a lot more confident in finding Sapphire now. And then we'll be on both teams at once!"

Neither Grif nor Simmons knew what to say to that. Maybe it was some kind of weird inside joke?

"...Uh, nevermind." Ruby blushed maroon. "Actually, we'll probably go home after that. But I'm trying hard not to let the situation get to me." She grit her teeth. "Again."

"If you can go home," Grif reminded her as he cursed the existence of canyons, mud and sudden downpours. "You might be stuck here in Bullshitsville with us, forever."

Simmons shot him a look over his shoulder, water running down his helmet. "Grif, we were trying to be positive? Those two can definitely find a way home and through it, so can we! It's science."

Grif could have let it drop. He knew deep down he probably should have, since he liked Ruby. She apologized to him without prompting, and in doing so became the second person in the history of Dexter Grif to perform such a noble and necessary deed. She saved the both of them from an explosion before she knew who they were. But he was bad at faking anything but sleep and indifference. It was a lot of work on good days, when it didn't rain and the worst he had to deal with was evading mopping duty.

"Okay, but what if we find a way out for you and we're still trapped here? You're gonna leave and find your Sapphire, and we're going to be back where we were. That's great for you, but..."

"I won't leave you guys trapped! That would just be selfish." Ruby gave Grif the thumbs-up. "I'm obliged to you now, right? Except..." Her eyes widened and her smile vanished, the slightest suggestion of steam forming around her again. "I have to get back to Steven as soon as possible. I have people who need me. But Steven would definitely want us to help you, and we don't want to _disappoint_ him." She spoke of disappointing 'Steven' in a low voice dripping with dread. "No, I-I won't leave you behind! That'd be ungrateful. And you're all good guys! So far. I think..."

"Don't say anything," Simmons hissed to Grif as the latter held up a finger to interrupt.

"I didn't even think about the fact that you were in a bad place too! Washington told me about your ship crashing and the lack of rescue parties, and you're putting yourself in danger to help me!" Ruby held her hands to her head. Grif could recognize the down spiral of panic in her, but he wasn't sure how to deal with it in someone who wasn't Simmons or himself. For that matter, he couldn't tell what was causing it. He was just being realistic.

She seemed to snap herself out of it, shaking her head and forcing a smile. "Sorry! Sorry, I just...got caught up in not having a plan. I'm used to being able to look into the f-nevermind. But, uh, don't worry! I'm sure it's gonna work out. As someone else would say..." She lowered her voice to a gentle alto with a British accent and held her hand to her eyes to suggest sunglasses. "We've got love on our side." A pause. "You'll meet her later. Hopefully."

Simmons and Grif exchanged confused glances.

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "Just...stay positive! I, uh, I better check on your leaders and the two blue guys again. Not very soldier-y of me to hang back during my own mission, and I seem to be having trouble with the talking thing right now. Uh, bye!"

She moved pretty fast when she wanted to, zipping up to Sarge and Washington again. Grif watched her and resisted the urge to scratch his head. It never worked while he wore a helmet. "See, dude? Love makes you _weird_."

"I think she's just socially awkward. Not that I would know," Simmons added hastily. "But yeah, it makes you totally weird. Good thing we don't have to worry about that."

Grif thanked his acting skills that he managed to stifle that flinch. "Yeah," he answered, though his heart wasn't into it.

It was just the stupid rain.

* * *

 _Time-Space Palace, Earth_

 _The Past? The Future? Who Knows Where Garnet Went?!_

Watching Pearl and Amethyst mess around with the Time-Space Palace was the right thing to do. Steven couldn't leave and just do nothing. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was just staying while doing nothing. Was that really any better? It was still _nothing_.

*Any sign of Garnet?* Connie's text message announced itself with a faint buzz. Steven had his phone on vibrate so he wouldn't create a distraction.

*Pearl says they're still doing some science stuff with 'coordinates.' Which means, uh, nope. But the big clock thing is stuck on the same time. Place? I dunno. So if they can get it to wake up again, we can just go straight to her! And then we'll be like, 'GARNET! We're here to save the day!' Except they'll already have made her their queen in the ancient land of the past. And then Garnet will be so happy to see us and so moved by her love for Steven that she'll give up the crown and come home, after making sure the past is a democracy instead.*

Steven snuck a look past Pearl's shoulder at the floating orb, its light dulled to the soft core glow of a dying light bulb. He thought he heard Pearl whisper to Amethyst about 'power supply.' Trying not to make it obvious he was watching and listening in, he shifted in his cross-legged position on the cold, hard temple floor and stifled a yawn.

*But if she messes around too much with the past, she'll destroy the space-time continuum! Doing that can be catastrophic. Remember what happened in _Overneath the Underworld_? But she could also end up in the future. Do you think Garnet's having some kind of space opera adventure? Maybe she'll show up before you know it. With spoils of war,* Connie suggested.

It had been hours with no sign of a triumphant Garnet, but Steven appreciated Connie's attempts to make him feel better. *Maybe she'll have a Darth Leader helmet,* he texted. But the joke felt hollow on his part, and he knew he wouldn't be able to carry it further even if Garnet would look amazing in an evil space lord's helmet.

*Hey,* he added. *If someone does something to protect you, and you want to do something to make it up to them and help them even if you know it would upset them, is it a good or bad thing?*

"It almost seems like it's withholding its power intentionally," Pearl whispered to Amethyst. She sounded exhausted. "As another security measure."

"But it turned itself on before!" Poor Amethyst sounded worse, her throat a little raw. "You think I should give it a good, hard kick?"

"Don't you dare! We'd need to calculate exactly how hard to kick it first."

Steven's phone buzzed. *Oh wow, a real moral quandary! Wait, what's the thing you want to do that might upset this person?*

*I sort of think if we can get the temple working again, I should go after Garnet. Since she threw me out of the way! That's why this all started. And, I don't know...I get this sense the Temple was going after me specifically. But she'd get mad if I went on a big dangerous adventure to help her. Pearl and Amethyst would be really upset and worried.*

*YOU'RE GOING TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME?* Connie expressed what she couldn't convey in speech with shocked kitty emojis and a wide-eyed burger. *Wait, by yourself?*

*Well, Peridot's still on Earth. And she might have friends who are...not great people. If all the Crystal Gems are gone, who's going to protect Earth? Besides, I wouldn't be gone long. I'd just find Garnet and be back in...NO TIME.* That, Steven thought, merited a winky face.

*There's no way Pearl and Amethyst would let you go alone. I really want to go too, but I have a big report due this weekend. Wait-we should figure this out in person. I've read a lot of books on time travel and seen every episode of Dr. Who so I can prepare you. Can you meet me at your place? I'll just tell my parents I'm sleeping over!*

Something uncomfortable wriggled in Steven's stomach. The Gems (and Connie's parents) really didn't like it when he came up with ideas behind their backs. But maybe Connie could help Steven figure out how to convince the Gems to let him go! Or one Gem could go and one could stay. Or Garnet would hurry up and come back already and he wouldn't have to feel guilt upon guilt.

But what if Garnet never came back because of him!?

He searched his mind for a plausible excuse for him to go back before his stomach did it for him, growling in protest of the fact that he'd last eaten hours ago. "Uh, sorry! I guess I should actually go warp back home for a bit after all and get some dinner. Don't wanna forget to eat! Food. And stuff." Yes, Steven told himself. Very convincing. Good job.

If it wasn't, Pearl was clearly too exhausted to notice. She nodded, forcing a smile. Bags hung heavy under her eyes. "And some sleep. We appreciate the company, but this might take a while. -But wait, what about Peridot?"

"Connie's gonna be there!" That wasn't a lie. "Just in case. And I'll lock all the doors and have my shield ready and call the police if I see Peridot. I mean, I don't know what I'll tell them..."

"Forget THEM, call us." Amethyst yawned. "Yeah, Steve-o, we like having you here but there ain't much you can do right now. We'll come find you before we go look for Garnet."

Steven sprung to his feet, hoping all this secret planning wasn't necessary after all. "So I'm coming too?!"

Both Amethyst and Pearl froze, glancing aside at one another. "Well," Pearl admitted nervously, "we..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we burn it," Amethyst said quickly.

"I think it's `when we get to it,'" Pearl argued.

"Why would you burn a bridge right when you get to it?!"

"Yep! Gonna call you Iif there's aaaaany trouble." Steven made a point to sound as Convincingly Casual And Not At All Weird as possible. "Which there won't be! It's all gonna work out." He rubbed the back of his neck and turned around towards the warp, afraid of betraying more guilt in his body language.

Not that he had anything to feel guilty about, he tried to tell himself. He was just going to prepare himself and then give the Gems a stirring speech about how he should come, regardless of the danger. Yeah, that was the plan. Nothing about sneaking off at all.

In the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something spark in the orb. A flicker of electricity swirled inside of it, briefly forming the swirling pattern of a rose. Amethyst and Pearl didn't seem to see it, and it faded just as the blue-white light of the warp lifted Steven away.

* * *

 _Crash Site Bravo_

 _Again_

Ruby was sure she'd embarrassed herself in front of Grif and Simmons, both of whom probably thought she was a weirdo. The fact that she worried about it was a sign that she was backsliding.

It was, perhaps, to be expected. Garnet was the living incarnation of the love she and Sapphire had for one another. She was who Ruby was meant to be, whole and complete. Garnet loved herself as a result, knew without question that she was worthy and trusted in herself. Ruby longed for that feeling again, to be part of someone who'd looked upon a lowly Ruby soldier and thought far more of her than she could ever think of herself.

Even when they weren't fused, around Sapphire Ruby's confidence bloomed. She loved being able to show off for the rare Gem, flirting with her, making her blush with cute nicknames and a brush of her bangs. If there was one thing Ruby knew she was good at, it was loving Sapphire.

But this was the longest she'd spent separated from Sapphire in recent memory. Even her imprisonment on Jasper's ship had only lasted a few hours from her reformation to her re-fusing with Sapphire. There was no telling how long it would be before they were reunited again, which meant in the meantime Ruby had to function on her own.

And already she could feel herself unraveling at the idea, the old, familiar nastiness welling up inside of her. _You aren't really worth_ _all this trouble._ _You're_ _dwelling_ _on your own problems when you're surrounded by hum_ _ans who clearly have_ _enough_ _to deal wi_ _th._ _You're_ _just a Ruby. You're made t_ _o be expendable._

She knew it was all leftover programming from Homeworld, where Rubies were drilled with the idea that they lived to be cannon fodder, to fuse with one another for strength and suppress any signs of individuality. Nevermind that the other Rubies never seemed quite as insecure, or else they hid it well. She was also fully aware of how damaging and self-destructive such a mindset could be, having witnessed it herself with Pearl. If it consumed her the way it had Pearl at her worst, Ruby could make an even more damaging mistake. After all, Pearl knew Garnet. The Reds and Blues were just acquaintances.

Ruby had to get ahold of herself. Without Sapphire to assure her, she could end up in a down spiral. Somehow she always felt more confident and assured around people who were themselves naturally confident.

Which was the real reason she went to talk to Sarge.

Granted Sarge seemed odd, the way he'd immediately declared her a member of Red Team and treated it as a victory in a rivalry no one else seemed to care about. Had something happened between the Reds and the Blues in the past? Was that why Sarge occasionally punctuated his precise, energetic march with a glance of suspicion at Washington?

Ruby trudged through the rainy, muddy grass to the two leaders, clearing her throat. "Uh, hey! Any new discoveries yet? You guys know this canyon better than I do..."

"Ah, there she is! The new recruit." Sarge gave a vigorous nod down at Ruby, though he didn't break his poise. He was relatively slim and shorter than the still-silent Washington. "Been a long time since I got the chance to lead a mission through dangerous inclement weather! Or well, not exactly dangerous. But challenging! It's a challenge. You like a good challenge, right?"

"Uh, yeah!" Ruby wasn't lying. "Listen, about you guys helping me..."

"Huh? Say nothin' of it. Way I see it, a red alien showing up and looking for a blue alien is a sign! A sign that we've found what we were lacking, which is a purpose! A mission! A reason to stick it to the Blues! Even if we're working with 'em," he added with a head-tilt towards Washington.

"...Not sure I want to know," Wash said without looking at Sarge or Ruby, "but how exactly is this 'sticking it to us?'"

"Well, because this way the red alien's gonna find the blue alien first! That's a victory for Red!" Sarge spoke with such enthusiasm and cheer that Ruby wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "And then she can convert the blue alien to the Red side, help her see the light with the power of love! Ain't that right, Ruby?"

"Uh..." Ruby missed Garnet's bluntness.

"She doesn't care about our rivalry," Wash cut in. "She's got her mission and we've got ours. But you're probably right in that we needed a direction of some kind. We had an active, stressful period followed by forced idleness. It isn't healthy." Something in the weariness of his tone suggested he did not want to talk about that 'stressful period.'

"I just don't want to feel like you guys are putting yourselves in danger for me. I'm not..." _Worth it,_ she stopped herself from adding. But Sapphire was, and so was returning back to Steven. She had to focus on that.

"I'm partially doing this to find out why there are Gems here, how you got here, and how to ensure more of you don't follow. You know, your fellow soldiers who aren't so harmless." Wash still didn't look at Ruby.

Of course Wash didn't trust her yet. It made perfect sense to her. But boy was she tired of being associated with Homeworld again. "They're _not_ my fellow soldiers," she snapped up at Wash. "Not Homeworld. And if you think I'd intentionally endanger Earth, you don't even know me!"

"Yeah," Wash said, cold steel in his voice. "We don't."

Ruby steamed quite literally, mumbling to herself about paranoid armored humans who shouldn't even know about Homeworld, let alone lecture her about it. At least losing her temper was more enjoyable than feeling her confidence slip away. "Yeah, well," she said through gritted teeth, "I just promised Grif and Simmons I was gonna help you guys too, and a Homeworld gem would never do that. And if I wanted to attack you guys, you'd already be-"

"BOY, IS IT RAINING." Sarge bellowed loud enough to drown Ruby out and startle Wash. "Isn't it? Raining a lot? As in, likely to flood in places? How about that rain? Nothing like it to cool ya off and keep you _focused on the mission_. Wink wink. Nudge nudge." He cleared his throat. "Subject change."

"...Yeah, it is getting bad. We should get back to get some sandbags down in the base so our equipment doesn't get soaked." Wash sounded weary again, the edge gone. "It isn't like an exit is just going to vanish in the next few hours. Sorry, Ruby."

"...It's fine," Ruby said, reminding herself that humans needed dry equipment and electronics and were also capable of drowning. Only then, as she looked around, did she notice something. "Hey, where are the aqua guy and the other blue guy?"

"Tucker's up ahead scouting," Wash said. "And Caboose is...supposed to be taking up the rear..." He looked behind him and then muttered a curse. "Tucker, where the hell is Caboose?"

A second later, Wash's shoulders slumped. "That was Tucker over the radio. He thinks he just saw Caboose run towards the caverns to the south and it's flooding pretty rapidly. Tucker's going after him."

"Wait! I'll go after him." What better way for Ruby to prove her loyalty? Caboose seemed...odd, but nice. Besides, while she didn't mind Sarge she needed to get away from Wash and his iciness. "I literally can't drown and I'm too heavy to get washed away." Technically her Gem light body adjusted its mass as needed. "That way Tucker can help you guys get back, point out dangerous areas or landslides and all."

Sarge looked down at Ruby and grunted. "Savin' a Blue's ass already?"

Wash was silent, then lowered his helmet in what Ruby understood as a meaningful stare. "You have an hour, and then Tucker and I go back for you. And you'd better hope we don't have to."

* * *

"Caboose?" Ruby shouted so she'd be heard over the thunder and pounding rain. The water was up to her waist in the shallower dips of the cave floor. She stomped onwards, using her strength to fend off the pull of the floodwaters. She was in no danger of drowning, and perfectly capable of walking on a surface underwater. She got the feeling Caboose's armor did not lend him the same protection.

He was running through the cave, unencumbered by the water and splashing loudly. "Splash, splash," he sometimes chanted in time with his footsteps. "Don't worry, Freckles! I am coming! I know you don't like thunder. I don't. But I will be brave for you!"

Freckles? Wasn't that the name Caboose kept trying to give Ruby? No, she'd been Freckles II the Second, meaning there was a first. Could there possibly be another Gem Caboose was hiding somewhere? Though he spoke about this Freckles as if talking about a pet.

Pets were one of those concepts Ruby understood in theory but didn't really get in practice. She did know humans were often quite devoted to their companion animals. Caboose putting himself at possible risk to save a dog wasn't all that out there at all.

"Caboose," she called again, running after him. "We don't know how bad this rain is going to be. You shouldn't be down here! Otherwise..." Boy, did she ever miss Future Vision. Warning someone that something theoretically might happen felt so weak. "I mean, the floodwaters. These downpours can get..."

She lost track of her thoughts as Caboose ground (or splashed) to a halt in front of a towering metal behemoth, all mounted guns and feet bigger than a human. It turned slowly to face Caboose, something inside lighting up. Was it aiming at him?

"Don't worry," she said, her Gem glowing as she summoned her gauntlet. "I got this..."

"No!" Caboose stood in front of the mech and threw his arms out in front of it. "No attacking Freckles! He's just scared of thunder."

Ruby's jaw fell open. "That's..."

"THREAT DETECTED," a booming, monstrously deep voice declared from within the robot. "ELIMINATE." It raised its guns and aimed them at Ruby, who had not yet recalled her gauntlet for just that reason.

"NO, Freckles! No. Bad. No eliminating in the cave! You go outside for that." A pause. "And no shooting Red Church, I mean Freckles II the Second, I mean Ruby. You two get along or it's time out for both of you."

Miraculously, Freckles seemed to obey Caboose's order without question. Whatever this machine was, Caboose commanded it completely. It lowered its weapons and went quiet again, after a thundering "AFFIRMATIVE."

Ruby picked up on the meaningful look Caboose seemed to be giving her and dismissed her weapon into a flash of light. "...Caboose. You ran into the cave to save...that?"

Caboose wasn't paying her much attention, instead patting the side of Freckles's massive leg and cooing. "There there, that's okay! I am here now and I will protect you from the rain. You will stick with me forever and never ever go away."

It was ridiculous, a man protecing something that didn't need it and in fact likely couldn't even return the affection. Ruby had trouble looking at Freckles and seeing anything but a towering weapon of human make, a reminder that at times humanity wasn't all that different from Gemkind in darker ways. That thing was designed to be used against...what? Other humans?

But Caboose was promising to make it nice galoshes in the event it ever rained again. He sounded genuine. Washington and Tucker seemed to think he was just `acting weird,' but nothing was ever just weird. Everyone had a reason for doing something.

"Caboose?" She sloshed through the water towards Freckles. "I'm sorry for threatening Freckles. Do you need help drying him off?"

Caboose stopped, looking back down at Ruby as if he only then remembered he was there. "I can do it just fine. As soon as I find towels."

"Probably not as well as I can do it!" She reached over and steamed a splotch of mud right off of Freckles's...well, ankle, for lack of a better word. "See?"

Caboose looked down at her again and made a soft grumble in his throat but made no attempt to stop Ruby. "Freckles is mine," he said. "He is my new best friend and he is loyal to me. And when you have friends, you keep them safe and happy. He bounces when he is excited and shoots rocks into much smaller pieces when we play tag."

"And, uh." Ruby adjusted her heat level to make sure she wouldn't melt the robot's plating. "The others don't know about him?"

"I do not want to share. Also, they will say stupid things like, `Caboose! You cannot have a robot for a dog! But I had a robot for a friend and it was fine." The energy was gone from his voice, his efforts entirely on looking after Freckles.

Ruby could have pointed out that a flood was no threat to a robot of Freckles's size, but it wouldn't have made a difference. She caught onto the keyword. Had.

"Hey. Caboose? Um. You don't have to tell me who, but did you lose someone? Recently?"

"No! No. Not at all and even if I had, I would not be upset about it. I did not lose any friends because I am a good friend who is strong enough to keep bad things from happening to them, and I am well-liked enough that they would not go off and leave me behind."

And Ruby pulled her hand away from Freckles because she knew it would burn him this time. Garnet would be able to offer objective advice, she reminded herself. Garnet would not have to fight off tears just because something sounded a little too real and 13 years was no time at all for a Gem. If Garnet had held Pearl and Amethyst and wept silently, Ruby could comfort a stranger.

"...Sometimes people go. Sometimes they have to for their own reasons." She knew what she was doing. "And it isn't about you at all." Had you told her what would happen when she went to the beach concert, she would have done it anyway. You know Rose. "And all you can do is just be happy, because I'm sure they would have wanted your happiness with or without them. Right?"

"...I guess," Caboose said, helmet drooping. "And if I had not lost the person I did not lose, I would not have built Freckles. So maybe I was meant to have that thing that did not happen happen so I could be happy later." He tapped his foot and cupped his helmet in his hand as if holding his chin. "I am not happy now, but I think sometimes I will be."

"Does Freckles make you happy?"

"Yes! And he is very happy because he knows I will come for him in the rain. He is fine now, I can tell, so we can go back outside and find your lost person."

Ruby made sure to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand before facing Caboose again. Nobody needed to see her cry when they were crying. "Okay! Actually, Agent Washington called the search off for the moment until the storm lets up. So I'll walk you back to Blue Base and keep looking on my own. I don't mind the rain. Are you gonna tell him about Freckles?"

"I think, um. Maybe? Yesno. Should I?" His voice fell to a conspiratorial whisper. "What if Wash and stupid Tucker think it is weird?"

"Just say you see the beauty in everything. Some people do."

"The sea is ruining everything. Got it." He snapped. "You are smart, Red Church."

As they emerged from the cave, Ruby squinted at the sun peeking through the clouds. "Oh, hey! It's letting up! Things really are gonna go our way! I shouldn't have listened too hard to Grif."

"Yeeeah, I don't listen too hard to anyone and it works out for me."

As Ruby stretched and used the heat from her body to dry herself off, she turned to Caboose. "Hey, by the way. Who is Church?"

She never heard what he said, drowned out by the sound of a gunshot. Light cracked from a glowing hole in her shoulder, the pain flooding her for seconds before everything went bright and then very, very red.

* * *

 _You what?!_

 _I am trained to snipe for the heart or head for a quick kill. Not the hand. And I_ _am unused to smaller targe_ _ts._

 _You fucking missed. Oh my_ _God. Every_ _time I think maybe my expectati_ _ons of you are too l_ _ow, you still ma_ _nage to impress me_ _. In the wrong_ _way._

 _It doesn_ _'t matter._ _They now know of a_ _threa_ _t. Let them panic for a while, make whatever weak_ _preparations they can against an enemy unseen, a_ _nd_ _wait for the_ _right time._

 _And_ _if they try leaving the canyon again_ _? That almost happened_ _and it's_ _not in the plan._

 _Fear is a very good mot_ _ivat_ _or_ _._


	6. What I Would Do For You

_Ship Crash Land_

 _Time: **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH**_

"Ruby!?"

Caboose stared where Ruby no longer stood. He'd heard a gunshot, saw something tear through Ruby's body before it dissolved into light the way Church would when he wanted to rest. No, not like that. Church, the second one, always seemed like he was switching himself off. This was sudden and violent and wrong.

But there was no body. That meant she wasn't dead, right? Caboose had seen dead people before, a good number of them. There was almost always a body left behind.

"...Ruby? Um, where did you go?" Caboose stepped forward hesitantly, lest something lurking unseen in the sky shoot him too. He caught a glimpse of a red object glinting in the muddy grass and leaned forward to pick it up. It was the gemstone Ruby wore in the palm of her hand, heavy and warm to the touch.

"Ruby? You have to come back now because you forgot your punch jewelry, which looks very expensive. You're going to be so upset when you realize you left it behind." His hands shook so hard he almost dropped the jewel, which he knew he couldn't do because it would mean losing Ruby. "I'll stop calling you Red Church or New Church or Freckles II the Second and remember your real name if you just reappear and be, um, not shot..."

It was fine. When Church was in the floating alien eye, sometimes he would turn off. Maybe gems were the same. They turned off when they were shot by someone Caboose couldn't find who absolutely was not going to shoot any more of Caboose's friends. He would just let Agent Washington know. And maybe everyone else, since he just opened the canyon-wide channel that the Reds heard too, in case the sky decided to shoot them. Just a brief notice.

"RUBYSAROCKHELP"

"...What?" Tucker's voice crackled on the other end. "Caboose?"

"HAND JEWELRY SKY BULLET NOT MY FAULT." Caboose tried again.

"Uh," Grif said over the channel, "did someone break Caboose?"

Washington could be heard taking a deep, slow breath. "Caboose. Slow down. Tell us what's going on."

Frustrated at himself for having so much trouble with the words and with everyone else for not knowing what he meant anyway, Caboose began speaking very slowly.

"Ruby and I were going to see Never Mind I Will Tell You About Him Later and-"

"Who?" Tucker interrupted.

"I said I'll tell you later!" Caboose snapped. Stupid Tucker. "-and some stuff happened and then some other stuff and then Ruby got shot and died except now she is a rock!"

Over the resulting sounds of shock and confusion from the radio, Caboose heard a familiar digitized voice boom behind him. "HOSTILES DETECTED."

"...Oh, also," Caboose added quietly, "by 'I'll tell you later' I meant 'come over here and I'll tell you now."

* * *

 _Above the Defunct Time-Space Palace,_ _Abandoned Former Colony Designated "Earth"_

 _Time On Earth: Too Long_

As she landed atop a smooth dome of crystal and stone, Peridot thanked the Diamonds that Homeworld had never been one for modest architecture. The Time-Space Palace stood out like a beacon against the smooth waves of the ocean, perched atop a rocky island bereft of plant life. Its translucent dome was cold and lifeless as ever, a thin crack the only signs of how ancient it was, though the color had long since washed off its stone walls.

Peridot powered down her limb enhancer's helicopter mode, hoping the long flight wouldn't burn it out, and started another recording. When she was rescued, she'd have the most thorough notes for Yellow Diamond ever.

"Log date, 7-0-3. Detected activity at this abandoned Homeworld project. Used a more indirect warp in case the Time Space Palace has been infiltrated in order to avoid detection. On that note, Earth's oceans are ridiculously big and I hate them. This planet is so inefficient."

She froze as something moved in the water, great shapes glistening in the moonlight. It appeared to be just another group of Earth lifeforms, something her all-too-scant data identified as 'dolphins' or something. Peridot snorted in derision and turned back to her glowing green log screen.

"Starting to wonder if the signal was a false alarm. It doesn't look like the Time-Space Palace is online after all. Not sure why it would be, since my own attempts were fruitless. It's as much of a hunk of junk now as I've heard. And even so, it never worked when it was online!" Peridot wasn't about to forget the frustrating hours she'd spent messing with the temple's controls some time ago to no avail, and held a grudge against the place for it.

"The Crystal Clods are probably the only ones who could do anything with it, unless _humans_ have advanced a few thousand years without my noticing. Which I doubt. But I don't really know what business they'd have here, unless..." Peridot gasped, a chill coming over her. "Wait. What if they know about The Cluster after all and are trying to get the Palace online in a last-ditch effort to escape? There's no way they'd be so tied to this rock that they'd let themselves get blown up with it! And the Galaxy Warp's broken, and they are a twisted, cowardly lot...!"

She cut the log, scowling so she wouldn't start shaking. Was she really going to be the last gem left on Earth, destined to shatter alongside it? Why hadn't Yellow Diamond responded to her distress signals yet? How could those low-tech clods manage something she, a newer and far more advanced Gem, couldn't pull off?

"Well," she muttered as she crouched on the dome, "we'll just see about that."

* * *

 _Beach City Temple, Steven's Kitchen_

 _8:30 PM-ish, Not the Past or the Future Yet_

"Okay." Steven crouched over his cheeseburger backpack. "Time to take inventory."

Connie stood nearby, holding a checklist written in her notebook. "Okay. Rope?"

"Check!"

"First aid kit? With disinfectant? That part's really important."

"Uh, check!" Steven pulled out the little kit and peered in. "I think this has disinfectant cream...I'm not sure I can get infections, though."

"But someone you encounter might!"

"Oh, yeah! Gotta be a hero." Steven gently pounded his chest with his fist, striking an appropriate pose.

Connie chuckled, dabbed the grease off of her slice of pizza with a napkin, and took a bite before continuing. "Rmtums?"

"Che-wha?"

"Mmm-srrry." Connie held a hand up while she hastily swallowed. "Oof, this pizza's still too hot. Rations?"

At the mention of the pizza, Steven felt his stomach do another backflip. His dad had ordered it for 'the kids' when he heard Connie was sleeping over. Good old Greg 'Has No Idea His Son Is Planning On Leaving For a Dangerous Time Traveling Adventure Tonight' Universe. It was a really nice gesture, but it only made Steven feel more guilty. Not too guilty to eat; it seemed worse to get a gift of pizza and not use it.

"Uh, right," Steven said, trying to recover his resolve from earlier. He pulled out a box of granola bars and frowned at the label. "These are the all-natural ones that Pearl gets for me even though she doesn't eat food anyway."

"The ones with flaxseed and no added sugar?" Connie made a face. "Ew. I hope she hasn't been talking to my mom."

"Yeah, I know. You sure frozen waffles wouldn't be better? What if I end up in a post-apocalyptic future where waffles are currency or something? Like how in that book you let me borrow, music was banned and the heroine had to save the world with the last remaining trombone?" Steven liked that book, even if it was a little dark for his tastes.

Connie twitched. "Don't remind me! I just finished book two of Harmonoutcasted and it was such a disappointment! They introduced a love triangle-a _love triangle_ , Steven! Melody starts acting really passive out of nowhere every time Tambourine's around, which is completley out of character for her! I'm going to tweet the publisher and-" She froze. "Wait, I'm not here to talk about that!"

She rubbed the back of her neck and lowered her head. "Sorry. Got a little carried away. Back to the subject at hand!" She made a show of picking up her notepad again, clearing her throat. "As to the waffles, well, with global climate change and all it might be hotter in the future, so they might thaw out and go bad. And if you're too far in the past they won't have a toaster or a microwave," Connie pointed out.

"No microwave?!" Steven ran his hands through his hair, slumping back. "What am I getting myself into? Okay, wait, no. It's for Garnet. I can do this! I'm thirteen years old and I've dealt with at least 30, maybe 100 monsters already."

Connie set her pizza aside, jumping off the counter with a frown. "Steven, this isn't about microwaves, is it?"

"...No," he admitted with a sigh. "I mean, it sort of is because I keep thinking of how many people throughout history grew up without a good way to heat up leftovers and I got sad."

"It is pretty mind-blowing when you think about it..."

Steven hopped up onto one of the counter stools, finally grabbing himself a slice of pineapple pizza. "It's just, I know this is kind of reckless. The Gems probably want to go by themselves and leave me to hold down the fort, which means they're afraid I won't make it. And I want to get offended over it because I've been through so much with them anyway, but...they're probably right."

Connie folded her slice in what she called 'New Empire City' style, waiting for Steven to go on.

"This isn't a regular mission where I can just warp back. We don't even know if there is a way back, or if Garnet is..." He didn't let himself say 'gone forever.' A lump formed in his throat; he forced it away. "And if I never come back, Dad will be miserable. Same with Pearl and Amethyst! They'll feel awful. And all my friends in Beach City, and you..." He stopped.

Connie bit her lip and turned away. "I mean, I-I just know you'll come back! You always do. And I don't think about the idea that you might not. I really wish I could go with you, but I couldn't do that to Mom and Dad. You're a Gem, or half-Gem, and even if I am good with a sword I'm still a human. I accepted that a long time ago."

"...Thanks. For what it's worth, I bet you'd be a really awesome time traveler." Steven felt it was a weak response to such a heavy admission.

"I'd be too afraid of disrupting the time-space continuum and undoing someone's existence." Connie gave a little smile. "So it sounds like despite these worries, you still feel like you have to go. Do you wanna talk about it?"

Steven did, though he hesitated. "You won't think it's weird?"

"The first time we hung out, we got stuck together in a bubble at the bottom of the sea. Your feelings can't be any weirder than that."

"Oh, yeah." Steven blushed and laughed half-heartedly. It was so comforting to talk to Connie about this. "Well, I think it might only work for me. The orb at the center of the Palace lit up when I was around. Almost like it was waking up. Then before I left last time, I feel like-like it was trying to communicate with me."

Connie slammed her hands on the counter, splashing her iced tea. "You think it's alive?!"

"Maybe? I don't know! So much Gem stuff seems like it has a mind of its own even if it doesn't. But this is different. If something in there is alive, and it's reaching out for me, then it must need my help. Maybe-maybe it needs me to be wherever Garnet is and won't send her back until we've done whatever it is we need to do."

"A mystical quest." Connie's eyes lit up. "Why would it need you in particular?"

"I mean, maybe not me." Steven turned up towards the portrait of his mother hanging over the door, and then glanced down at his gem. "But as close as it's gonna get."

"Do you think it might be...like that water lady? Lapis?'

Steven shuddered. "I hope not. She was so sad..." He tried to ignore the memories of his dream of Lapis, struggling and demanding no help. "There, see? I have to help the Palace, and whatever it wants me to do, and then I need to come back to help Lapis and protect the Earth again! Although there's a chance something bad might happen in the meantime, so...hold on!"

He hopped off the stool and ran over to Lion, who was sleeping in the corner. "Heey, Lion!"

The pink-furred creature yawned, looked up at Steven, and then went right back to sleep.

"Oh come on, Lion! I need to do something dramatic and cool and you're ruining it!" Steven glowered at Lion to no avail. He'd have to use trickery and deceit again. He casually wandered back to the counter, rubbing his stomach. "Boy, am I stuffed! I don't even think I'll be able to finish this...last piece of pizza." He grabbed it and waved it in front of Lion, who hopefully would not notice there was still plenty of pizza left and Steven hadn't eaten much yet. "Whatever will we do with it? Wasting food is terrible! I guess I could leave it for Amethyst..."

That seemed to rouse Lion, who climbed to his feet, made a grumbling noise and carefully snatched the pizza out of Steven's hand. After devouring it in a few bites, Lion lowered his head for Steven. Sometimes it seemed as if Lion could read Steven's mind, which made the big cat's erratic behavior even stranger.

Connie stared. "Steven, are you-"

With as much flourish as the situation required, Steven reached into Lion's mane and withdrew a broadsword in a pink scabbard bearing the sigil of Rose Quartz. He turned to Connie and cleared his throat. "Connie Maheswaran, with the power invested in me as a Crystal Gem, I hereby entrust you with the duty of protecting Beach City for a little while! Or at least the house and my dad."

Connie hesitated only for a moment before bowing before Steven, taking the sword in both hands. A fire seemed to erupt in her eyes. "I accept! Good thing it's a long weekend and I don't have a lot of homework."

"Oh, and if anyone asks, you did everything in your power to turn me from my terrible, terrible choice. You begged and pleaded! But I could not be turned." Steven held his hand in front of his forehead, leaning back dramatically. "...Uh," he added, "so you don't get in trouble for what I'm doing."

"Nah, I'll take responsibility too. Besides, I hate lying. It's so stressful!" Connie saluted. "Now get ready, soldier! We have to finish inventory and get you on that Lion to save Time! And Garnet."

"Yes! Ready, Lion?"

Lion yawned and went back to sleep.

* * *

 _Time-Space Palace, Earth_

 _Time: TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS OH BOY_

Steven memorized the conversation he'd have with Pearl and Amethyst as he rode Lion through the warp stream, clinging to his soft pink mane. He'd address their fears and do his best to answer them, like a mature adult. They'd be so impressed by said adult maturity they'd know he was ready to go, especially since it was likely the Palace wasn't going to work without him anyway. Maybe it would bring Pearl to tears, so proud she would be of her little boy. Amethyst would give him the fist-bump of a lifetime. They'd have the best adventure ever.

Then Lion came to a halt and Steven found himself face-to-face with Peridot for three seconds before Amethyst snatched her away with the whip.

The Palace was a mess of lasers firing from the ceiling and floor left and right, their patterns even more erratic than the last time.

"Steven! Uh, hey," Amethyst called out, hair fizzling as if she'd taken a few lasers to the face already. "Cool timing! Wanna see us beat the snot out of Peridot?"

"Steven, stay back!" Pearl was standing near the center, fiddling nervously with the control panel near the still-inert orb. "We finally managed to get the system recharging again and Peridot showed up and disrupted everything!"

"This is not my fault, you clods! Aiee!" Peridot yelped as a laser fired at her, pulling herself free of Amethyst's whip and charging her own beam weapon. "I was just trying to get this broken-down waste of White Diamond's time online and finish the job you couldn't! You're the ones who were about to abandon your precious Earth!"

"She keeps saying that," Pearl said, rolling her eyes. "Wait, Steven, why did you bring Lion?"

"Uh..." Steven had lost the words. "Because-oh gosh!" He formed a bubble shield to protect himself and Lion, laser fire bouncing right off. There was no way he could have an important, persuasive talk when things were like this. It was time for decisive action.

"Hey, Lion?" He whispered a request into Lion's ear. Seconds later, he lowered himself against Lion's back as the pink barrier dissipted. Lion charged forth with a roar, unfazed by the laser fire, until he crouched next to the orb.

"Hey, Pearl..." Steven again found himself tongue-tied as he looked up at the very puzzled Pearl.

"Steven, don't worry about this! It's just another little setback." The bags under Pearl's eyes suggested she wasn't nearly as confident about the situation as she wanted him to be. "We'll get Peridot out of here and get back to work. And then, well, Amethyst and I have been talking, and we were thinking..."

She trailed off as the orb glowed of its own power, giving off a vivid silver light and hovering in front of Steven. Electrical patterns flickered on its surface. Steven saw the shape of a rose, a map of stars with a line drawn between the two, an hourglass turning over and over, a beckoning hand.

"...What do you need me to do?" He stared into it, his distorted reflection superimposed over the dancing lines.

"STEVEN! Get away from that thing!" Pearl reached for his hand, only for a spark to fly out at her and shock her away.

"No! Don't hurt them," he commanded the orb. "It's me you need, right? Well, we all need each other, so no hurting them! Even Peridot," he added.

 _Rooose_ _,_ something whispered. _Rose. Quartz. Rose..._

The security system fell quiet around them, even Peridot staring in confusion now at Steven. "What's the Steven doing? It's just glowing!"

Steven looked around at Pearl and Amethyst. "You don't see all the lines? It's trying to talk to me..."

Amethyst extended a hand, her smile shaky and her movements hesitant. "Come on, bud, we gotta go..."

Steven very nearly reached for Amethyst's hand. Maybe nobody had to go. Maybe he could just talk this thing down and it would give Garnet back.

The orb flared, giving off a shriek that almost sounded voiced. It sent its arcs of lightning out again, just as it had when it took Garnet. This time, Steven saw spectral hand-shapes framing the lightning like flesh around bone.

One reached for him and enclosed around him as soon as he dove safely into Lion's mane, holding his breath. The pink, surreal world inside Lion was still as ever, free of the chaos.

Then even it shuddered with the jolt of being pulled through.

* * *

Peridot pressed her back against the wall of the palace, rendered speechless by what she'd just seen. The Steven and his strange pink thing were gone. The defective Pearl and undersized Amethyst had vanished in the same instant, taken by a different branch of lightning. They'd all vanished without a trace.

The orb fell dark again, motionless on the floor. When Peridot went to poke at it, it was cold as if it'd never activated at all.

"...Are you kidding me?!" Peridot gave the orb a good hard kick. It knocked one of her limb enhancers across the room.

* * *

 _?_

Steven came up for air after what felt like ages, gasping and coughing as he surfaced from Lion's pocket dimension. Lion had come to a stop, looking sleepy but otherwise no worse for wear.

"Good Lion," Steven whispered as he ruffled Lion's mane. He looked around, perching atop Lion's back.

They were standing on the edge of a frozen lake, snow blowing into Steven's hair and stinging his nose. He immediately regretted not bringing his jacket, hugging himself and wincing at the biting winter wind.

"Hello? Pearl? Amethyst?...Are you guys here...?"

Nobody answered.

* * *

 _Chorus, Crash Site Bravo_

 _Afternoon or Something?_

Tucker stared at his radio and cursed. Well, he thought as he made his way back down the canyon ridge, time to go check on Caboose and figure out what was going on with him now.

Tucker had a sense of what'd thrown Caboose off in the broad sense, of course. Church left without saying goodbye, like an asshole. He'd done it soon after having a meltdown and verbally tearing a new one into his old comrades, also like an asshole. In short, Church had been an asshole and had hurt Caboose in the process.

Not that any of the above bothered Tucker. Church was an asshole; nothing new there. Tucker could take it. And Tucker certainly wasn't mad about Church's actions affecting Caboose, because Caboose was annoying.

He wasn't even sure why he was thinking about Church. Maybe because Caboose accidentally shooting an ally and blaming it on someone else always brought the guy to mind. This time Caboose blamed the sky, which was creative on his part.

At least his slim, Sangheili-derived knowledge of Gems suggested Ruby would be fine. Ruby was cool, maybe hot if she'd been a little taller, and Tucker simply felt she didn't deserve to go through shit because Church was throwing Caboose off his groove.

He had to move slowly down the rocky, muddy path, thanks to all that rain. The last thing he needed was to slip, fall, break his neck and die hearing Wash say 'I told you so.' Had he been going downhill faster, he might not have seen it.

Tucker froze, staring across the canyon back towards the edge. Whatever he'd seen there, it was gone. It could have been anything. Seeing a couple of strangers lurking and vanishing didn't mean shit. He could have mistaken rock formations for soldiers. Rock formations that immediately crumbled away. Maybe they were imaginary hot female soldiers, and he was seeing them because he hadn't gotten laid in forever. Imaginary hot female soldiers didn't shoot anyone.

"...Hey." He opened up a private comm. "Wash?"

 _(Next chapter: Where did Amethyst and Pearl end up? For that matter, where is Steven? Will he survive without a microwave? What will become of Ruby, still in her gem form? Is her fate in the hands of soldiers who frankly aren't the best the galaxy has to offer? Is Crash Site Bravo as uneventful as it seems? Weren't Carolina, Church and Sapphire in this story, too? Tune in next time to find out! Or just press the next chapter button.)_


	7. What Happens to a Colony Abandoned

_Contested Gem Colony Designated "Earth"_

 _Circa 3700 BCE_

The war had been kind to Moldavite.

She would never admit it in front of the White Diamond Court, where "Rose Quartz's Folly" was spoken of in scornful whispers and suspicious tones. Everyone wanted it over with, Rose and her cohorts shattered in public execution and the planet she so selfishly hoarded for delusional reasons reconfigured into a proper colony. Gems were not meant to fight Gems, and certainly not over the fate of a few carbon-based life forms due to die out when their sun did. That assumed they would survive the next catastrophic eruption or ice age.

That the war could not be won swiftly and efficiently raised all sorts of questions among the Gem elite. There was no reason a Quartz and her treasonous allies should be able to hold out against the full power of the Diamonds so long. Gems had eliminated space-born species who stood in the way of necessary colonization with a fraction of the difficulty they now had against the rebel faction. The Diamonds needed Jades to formulate new battle strategies, Tourmalines to lead strikes against Rebel-held targets, and Moldavites to perform experiments and answer the elites' questions.

Given greater importance in White Diamond's ranks, authority over a few Quartzes and Rubies and even her own Pearl, Moldavite could find few complaints in her current situation. Peace would come inevitably, for Rose Quartz logically could not win; before it did, Moldavite was determined to carve herself a niche in White Diamond's Court through her discoveries.

"A message, my Moldavite." The bronze-haired Copper Pearl approached Moldavite as the latter leaned over an elaborate blueprint spread over a marble worktable. Copper Pearl kept her eyes downcast and her voice soft, though Moldavite caught her sneaking a peek at the plans and frowned.

"Thank you," Moldavite said as she took the round disc from Pearl's hands. "Tell me, Copper, do you like what you see?"

Copper Pearl startled, her pose stiffening as she realized she'd been caught. "I saw nothing, my Mol-"

"Of course you didn't. You aren't curious. You're not designed that way." Moldavite inserted the disc into a slot on the table, where it glowed and projected a written message in soft white light. "You're such a nice Pearl and involved in an important project. It would be a shame if I had to report design flaws to my supervisor."

Moldavite heard a soft gasp from the Copper Pearl before she retreated, returning to her post at the door. In truth it really didn't matter if the Pearl showed interest in her own work; on some level, Moldavite was flattered. But how would it look to the Court if she tolerated divergent Pearl behavior? What would White Diamond think of her own discipline?

She soon forgot about the Pearl as she read the projected message from White Diamond herself. As she did, her mouth curled into a smile. White Diamond approved of the project, having seen its value to the war effort and the continued expansion of Homeworld. It meant having to communicate with the kooks working out there on the Testing Ground, and likely a few inconvenient trips through the Galaxy Warp, but it would all be worth it.

She activated her communicator and lifted it to her wrist. "Jaspers? Bring in the prisoner."

* * *

 _Chorus, Ruins of Agora Town_

 _Way_ _Way_ _Way_ _Way_ _Way_ _Way_ _Way In The Future From That Last Scene_

Carolina approached the ruins cautiously, her gun raised in case of an ambush. Epsilon hadn't detected any human heat signatures, but for all he knew the pirates had signal jammers. They sure seemed to use some high grade tech for a bunch of mercenaries stalking a planet that by all accounts didn't have much to offer.

Sapphire floated alongside her. There was no way for a small blue woman in a ball gown not to stand out, and both Epsilon and Carolina figured if they were spotted it wouldn't matter whether Sapphire looked odd or not. Besides, she seemed to like floating.

"Okay, so." Epsilon wished he could just speak directly into Carolina's radio, but that would cut Sapphire out of the communication. That left him in a position of broadcasting his digitized voice as a whisper. "We might be able to find some supplies here. Maybe even something intact that we can actually use. On the other hand, it's a little suspicious that our buddies would leave an entire settlement full of said supplies and possible hiding places alone. I mean, it's not much of a settlement..."

There really wasn't much of Agora left. Epsilon only knew it was called that because of a broken sign at the valley pass. Low, flat buildings built in a basic, cubic style lay abandoned, windows shattered. The dusty, cracked streets were littered with debris, shrapnel and burn marks. Gardens lay fallow and overgrown. Whoever had once lived and fought in this lakeside trade post settlement had left in a hurry, though at least they had taken their dead.

Carolina sighed as she walked through the empty streets, glass breaking under her feet. "My guess is they've already taken what they can. Or it's a trap."

"You don't seem very concerned about whether or not it's a trap," Sapphire said.

"Eh." Carolina shrugged. "I've fallen into worse."

Epsilon could think of five or six examples to bring up, but ragging on Carolina in a place like this felt wrong even for him. He fell back on scanning the area again, readying a shield or speed boost just in case she needed it.

Sapphire had been quiet even for her ever since their encounter with Rider. Epsilon figured she was just worried about being targeted, or the news spreading that there was at least one Gem on Chorus.

 _But what if she's upset with us because we asked her to use Future Vision?_

Time seemed to slow around Epsilon. AI thought and communicated with one another at a much faster pace. They could have entire conversations in time humans would experience as a fraction of a second. That was why Carolina didn't know about the others. It had nothing to do with Epsilon keeping secrets, honest.

And Epsilon had only generated Theta and Delta to help him run multiple programs at a time. Even if he'd generated a personality based on Alpha's memories and Caboose's encouragement, Epsilon had only a tiny fragment of Alpha's processing power. It was only those two. He wouldn't go and generate Omega or Sigma or anything.

That Theta also manifested as a personality, an innocent child who was entirely too nice to have come from Alpha or Epsilon, was just a side effect. But the fragment-of-a-fragment's guilt was distracting, and it was leaking into Epsilon.

"Uh, it's alright. I'm sure she'd say if she was mad at us, dude." Epsilon wasn't used to this 'big brother' routine, and felt ill at ease in the role. "And we won't ask her to do it again. Water under the bridge."

"But we keep making people mad." Theta's visualization looked down and dug the toe of his boot into the ground. Armor looked a little ridiculous on a child, but giving Theta any other form involved trying to formulate a human face and that was a step Epsilon did not want to take.

"What do you mean? Carolina's not pissed at us right this second, and-" Oh. Right.

Theta was reviewing footage of the hologram room confrontation. Epsilon forcibly cut it off. "Hey, look," he said, "It's...it's in the past. It's been a while, and we just won't be a dick like that anymore. I won't."

Was Epsilon trying to reassure Theta that he wouldn't lose his temper and alienate everyone around him again, or himself? Technically, wasn't it both?

Theta made a halfhearted noise of agreement and went back to his task as time started up around Epsilon again. It wasn't that Epsilon didn't feel bad about it! He just didn't want to brood like an asshole. It was hard enough not getting hung up on the past when he was a living collection of memories. Besides, he didn't even know when he'd see the Reds and Blues again. He had a mission to focus on here in the present.

Epsilon realized with a start that Sapphire was looking at him when she hadn't been a second ago. Had she seen that conversation somehow, or known what he was doing? An AI couldn't blush from embarrassment, but Epsilon found himself flaring a little brighter. "So, Sapphire! You remember anything about this particular settlement in your vision?"

"Hmm." Sapphire peered around, lips pursed together. "No. But I do have a question for you two."

"Shoot," Carolina said as she brushed the dust off of a wall, revealing the words "New Republic" buried in graffiti.

"This is a human settlement colony, correct? The atmosphere appears to be similar to Earth."

"It's close enough. The average temperature is a little lower outside of the equator regions, and there's less tectonic activity." Epsilon silently thanked Delta for helping him sound smart. "Oh, and it's smaller. Like, 0.0006% smaller, so no one gave a shit. But yeah, the UNSC barely had to do any terraforming here."

Sapphire nodded, her long hair blowing in the dusty breeze. "Gems can survive in most environments, but human life is fragile. No offense meant. Most planets are either too hot or too cold to support you. You need water, an atmosphere with the right balance of chemicals, and soil capable of growing food sources. You outright said you have to 'terraform' some places to survive." She seemed hung up on that word and didn't say why. "When Gem Homeworld found a planet suitable for Gem production, they made claims to it at all costs. The geological processes need to be just right; not any planet will do. Planets and moons capable of supporting Earth life are even rarer."

"...What are you getting at?" Carolina asked.

"Homeworld abandoned Earth reluctantly, after a long, protracted war." As Sapphire spoke, the temperature around her dropped; Epsilon saw it in the heat signatures as Carolina shivered. "Why has this planet been abandoned? Why is Chorus dying?"

Silence fell.

"...I don't know if I'd put it that way," Carolina said. "But you're right. It's a failing colony. We heard some info about increased piracy and weapons sales in this sector, and rumors led us here. It seems like the UNSC's almost forgotten about this planet."

"How can a colony be _forgotten_?" Sapphire sounded pained, her posture stiff and icy as she hovered. The ground beneath her frosted over.

"Eh. Probably some politics somewhere. We're way out of the way, and I'm sure some minister or politician in charge of something or other attached some bullshit to a bill and Chorus fell through the cracks." Epsilon only realized how horrible that sounded once he'd said it aloud. "But they have a capital city and a local government. Like you said, the planet can support life, so they should be autonomous and doing alright, except..."

"There's a war going. I know that much." Carolina gestured around the ruins. "This isn't the first place we've come across like this. But during wartime, at least one side should be building bases and increasing weapon and food production. Instead, both are retreating and dwindling even as things keep escalating. So I guess we're here to answer the same question, Sapphire."

"We're kinda badass superheroes like that," Epsilon added, desperate to keep things from getting too depressing.

Sapphire was quiet again, and she was looking directly at Epsilon. Her bangs hid most of her face, leaving Epsilon wondering why an AI would feel uncomfortable without eye contact.

"…Uh," he added, "something up?" He ran another scan for pirates just in case. "Some Future Vision thing?"

She shook her head. "It's still clouded. But I need to ask you something. That armor you're wearing, Epsilon. I've seen it before. Is it common?"

"This? It's Mark VI MJOLNIR armor. Standard issue for..." Epsilon stared. "Wait. Where have you seen it?"

"In my vision. Someone who was helping Ruby in her time of need. Their armor had the same shape, but the color was different. A deeper blue." Sapphire held up the hem of her royal blue gown. "Like this."

Oh, no. " _Caboose?!_ "

"They're still here?!" Carolina's heart rate spiked. "But there should have been a rescue pickup by now."

The two had checked on the crash site briefly to make sure the Reds and Blues had survived, boggling at the coincidence, then quietly slipped away. It didn't feel right to approach them again, not yet. But both were sure the UNSC would send for the heroes who busted Project Freelancer as soon as possible.

Come to think of it, what was the transport doing that off course anyway?

"God, what are those idiots doing now? Can you look to see how they're-" Epsilon caught himself. "Sorry, sorry. Promise, right."

"My Vision is still clouded, or I would have looked forever until I figured out where Ruby was," Sapphire said, her monotone returning. "But I think this 'Caboose' will lead me to Ruby. And if these soldiers are important to you, you should find them and take them away from here. Off of this planet."

"Well, sure." Epsilon rubbed the back of his neck. "We'll get them a transport, I mean it's bullshit if they've been stranded this long. But we need to-"

"You should go too," Sapphire cut in. "Unless you intend to die here. Ruby and I are Gems; we can survive a lot while our friends work to bring us back. When I asked why Chorus was dying, I did so having seen a glimpse of many futures through the churning storm of fate. One fact remains fixed."

"...That Chorus is dying," Carolina finished. "You seem big on this fatalism thing."

"It is a thing," Sapphire agreed.

"Okay, okay." Epsilon was aware he was flickering from stress and didn't care. "We'll discuss this whole 'stay, investigate, possibly die or escape' thing later. Good news is, we know where the Reds and Blues are. I am so sorry the fate of your, uh, Ruby is in the hands of Caboose, by the way."

Sapphire shook her head. "I trust him."

"And that's proof even aliens who can see the future aren't infallible. Right." Epsilon decided not to push it, especially since underneath all the frustration at dealing with Caboose again lay a lot of uncomfortable guilt. "So we go back there. Might take us a few days, we're...pretty out of the way unfortunately, but it's a lead. Better than we've had."

"I'm gonna take a guess that this vision doesn't have any kind of solid time frame," Carolina said. "No 'we have until x to save them' sort of deal?"

"No. I hate being blinded like this." Sapphire's tiny gloved hands balled themselves into fists as the frost beneath her bloomed into a crystalline sheet of ice. "Perhaps when we're reunited, Garnet can..."

"Garnet?" Epsilon asked.

"Nevermind. You'll meet her later. Sorry." The Gem sighed, letting the ice melt into a slushy puddle that quickly sunk into the dry ground. "I can offer this much. There is a soldier in orange and black, and another with a helmet like a skull marked by an x. They are harbingers of doom, for your friends and for my Ruby." She ran a finger over the gem in her palm. "Something else eats at me; my vision tells me something has changed, but I cannot see what. I'll know when I find Ruby, and may be able to give you better advice."

"Does Ruby have future vision too?" The only things Epsilon had managed to gather about 'Ruby' was that Sapphire was desperate to find her, and that she had a habit of blushing bluish-purple when the other Gem came up. When needled, Sapphire would only clam up and blush deeper.

"No, but she's very direct." Sapphire smiled for the first time since her vision. "You are right. We have to stay in the present and take this one step at a time. For now, let us find this canyon and your friends."

Epsilon wondered how the hell Sapphire knew they were friends. Were they still friends after that? No, he had to take his own advice. One step at a time. "I can't believe it's another fucking canyon. Man, what am I gonna say when we run into them again? I better rehearse that."

Meanwhile, Delta filed away the information about the two strangers and did a search for any kinds of armor marked by an X on the helmet while Theta worried. Epsilon mulled over Sapphire's question, phrased in the bluntest and most upsetting way possible. Why _was_ Chorus dying?

Delta knew how to compile facts and data. He could answer concrete problems. This was not that sort of problem. Theta was innocent, not up to handling conspiracies and webs of lies. Gamma understood deceit, but like fuck if Epsilon was going to bring _him_ online and endure a sea of knock knock jokes. Epsilon needed someone who understood the human mind and all the myriad shitty things humans would do to each other for money and power.

 _You need me_ , a soothing, unearthly voice said inside Epsilon as he felt a sudden tug on his already strained memory.

Son of a bitch.

* * *

 _Someplace Cold_

 _Still the Future, Though Steven Doesn't Know That Yet_

Steven shivered and snuggled up against Lion's fur. "Oh man, how did I forget to bring a jacket? I guess I figured I'd end up in the future and everything would be hot because of global warming. What if I ended up in the Ice Age? I'll have to hunt a mammoth for a coat or something. I don't want to do that!" His eyes welled up with tears. "What if they go extinct because of me?!"

Lion grumbled and curled up on the ground, immediately shutting his eyes and letting out a loud snore. Steven glanced down at him and blinked. "I guess that took a lot out of you. Sorry, Lion." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a misshapen ice cream pop, letting it slide out of the plastic and land in front of the sleeping Lion. "Here ya go, for when you wake up. Good news is it's so cold out I bet it won't melt. Or if it does, you get a Lion Licker Soup!"

He wasn't sure at first if he should leave Lion's side. But the pink cat wasn't budging, and Steven wasn't sure anything ever really posed much of a threat to Lion. Besides, Lion could teleport if something dangerous came along. "Okay, well. You can't hear me because you're asleep, but I'm going to go out and see if I can find out where I am." And if Pearl and Amethyst had been pulled along too, he added mentally with a hint of guilt. If they were, it was because of him.

The swirling snow made it hard to see past his own arm. Everything was a mass of white. He could make out where the shore ended and the frozen lake began, though he couldn't see how big the lake itself was or if it looked safe to walk on. Down the shore he could make out dark shapes, buildings he couldn't identify from that distance.

A searchlight sent its beam across the lake, projecting from a thin tower. Steven sucked in a breath and ducked behind a rock, waiting for the searchlight to pass. "I don't think they had lighthouses in the Ice Age. Or whatever that is," he amended as he stood back up, checking to make sure the coast was clear.

"Well, maybe they'll be friendly. Maybe that's just a light they use to help travelers through the blizzard!" His breath hung in front of him as clouds of vapor, and he could feel his teeth chattering. "And they'll have hot chocolate. I hope Lion is okay out here..."

But when he looked back from where he'd arrived, Lion had already gone off to wherever Lion went when he wasn't around. The Lion Licker was gone. Steven couldn't even find tracks in the snow.

"Well, he's got fur. And I don't, but-wait!" He unzipped his backpack only long enough to pull out a tan linen blanket, rolled up into a tight bundle. "Burrito Blanket! I almost forgot this was still in here." He unfurled it and held onto the end as it blew in the wind, pulling it around his shoulders. It was decorated with sewn-in patterns of meat, vegetables and cheese along the edges, designed to look like a burrito when rolled up. "Sorry, Limited Edition Burrito Blanket. I know you're made for a pampered life of service indoors, but it's time to show your stuff!"

He felt a little bad using the product of 120 Bearrito Points and a valuable gift from Amethyst for protection against the elements. ("What, it's not a real giant burrito? Weak. Here, Steven." It warmed Steven's heart to even think about that moment.) But surely Amethyst would understand, given the circumstances.

He sure found himself hoping loved ones would understand his reckless actions a lot lately.

It provided only mild resistance to the cold and wind. By the time he was within sight of the foreboding complex of industrial-looking buildings, barbed wire fences and spotlights, the tasty-looking lettuce and tomato edge of the blanket was completely soaked. Steven could feel his fingers and toes going numb. He was also starting to doubt his hopes that the inhabitants were friendly. Friendly people didn't live behind barbed wire fences.

"Maybe I should..."

He couldn't complete the thought as the spotlight fell on him. He heard shouted voices, male and female, and soon saw armored figures running towards him. "Armor" was the best term he could come up with; in the dim light they looked vaguely insectoid, with a single narrow eye on the helmet.

He couldn't hear what they were saying. His first instinct was to turn and run, but running meant going back into a rapidly worsening snowstorm. All he could do was pull his blanket tighter around him, turn to face the alarmed (and armed) bug people, and force a smile.

"Hii! Uh, d-do any of you happen to have hot chocolate..?"

* * *

 _Chorus, Near Crash Site Bravo_

Doc DuFresne thanked his questionably effective lucky stars that the trip hadn't been...weird.

He hadn't really expected it to be. Ever since he and Donut had decided they worked better as friends, it hadn't been weird at all. Donut, cheerful as ever and bearing no resentment over what was almost too amicable to call a break up, hadn't pushed the point. Their farming experiment failing was a much bigger cause of stress, and that was due to the fact that Lopez's head was actually a poor deterrent for crows.

All that was water under the bridge. As soon as Donut barged into their settlement, declaring his intention to save his friends from "a terrible and very inconveniently located crash," Doc had sprung into action by making some very polite but strongly worded calls to Command asking exactly why the heroes who took down the corrupt Project Freelancer had to wait weeks and weeks for a pickup. Extra-solar transportation couldn't be that hard to arrange in a reasonable amount of time.

Doc had grown very cross with the number of red tape hoops he'd had to jump through to set up the trip. At one point he slipped up and used the word _asinine_ , which was far too violent and forceful for a pacifist. Violence and force never achieved anything productive.

 _You fool. Violence and force achieve everyt_ _hing!_

As usual, Doc ignored the angry voice intruding in his thoughts. Omega was gone, destroyed by an EMP, and thus O'Malley was gone. This was just a memory of O'Malley. He wasn't real and Doc wouldn't validate his own intrusive thoughts taking the form of someone who no longer existed. He made a note to light a scented candle later when they were on the ground and aromatherapy wasn't as much of a fire risk.

"I should be clear to land now," the tired-sounding pilot said, breaking Doc out of his thoughts. "Rain's passed. Could you please get him to stop telling me stories?"

"Aw, come on," Donut said, leaning over the pilot's shoulder. "I haven't even told you about the time travel! Or my deep infiltration missions! Or-"

"Yes. I know. Please don't."

Doc frowned. He knew he wasn't technically on duty as a medic, but it was his job to look after the health of his fellow soldiers. "You sound a bit stressed out. That's not a good state to fly a transport plane in. If you want, I can teach you meditation techniques while Donut goes to find the others."

The pilot twitched. "That's quite alright. You two both go. You and the robot. I'll stay right here in blissful silence."

 _"_ _Por favor, no me hagas ir con ellos._ _Tener compasión,"_ Lopez said in his digitized monotone. He was sitting in Doc's lap.

"Aw, it's nice of you to express concern, but we'll be safe with Donut. He has a weapon and everything!" Doc said as he patted the top of Lopez's helmet. He still felt bad about how O'Malley had treated Lopez and wanted to make it up to him with friendliness. At least it sounded like Lopez was expressing concern for two soldiers going into possibly dangerous territory. Too bad he couldn't go back in time and choose a different foreign language class in school. Who knew he would have needed Spanish more than French and Esperanto?

"Just...go," the pilot said as he landed the craft in a clearing surrounded by jagged cliffs. "Take your stuff and the creepy robot head and come back at least late enough for me to get a smoke."

"Okay! Thank you so much for your help! I can't wait to see everyone again." Donut climbed out of his seat and hopped down onto the muddy ground with gestures light and airy as his apparent mood. "I wonder how they're doing? Trapped in a box canyon with minimal military support and lots of mosquitoes. They must feel right at home!"

"Uh, yeah!" Doc was a little less sure of that, though he imagined Donut's optimism would be a welcome sight. He helped unload their luggage using proper lifting techniques and wondered if Donut had worried about a trip together on a small space transport with an amicable ex getting weird. Probably not. Nothing seemed to weird out Donut. That was part of his charm.

In fact, Donut had bounced back from their decision to move things back to friendship so quickly that Doc still felt a little hurt about it. He knew that was selfish. He liked Donut's positivity! Lord knew the universe could use more positivity. This was just part of it.

"I hope they're doing well," Doc said to distract himself. "It sounded like Agent Washington was under a lot of stress when he called you. If they're surviving off of rations, that might have something to do with it! Those things are loaded with preservatives. Good thing we were able to salvage that kale from the garden. Kale chips should be just the thing! Well, that and a rescue." He paused as he saw Donut stumble. "Huh? Something wrong, Franklin?"

"No! Uh, nope. I absolutely was not about to tell the pilot he could go because I forgot about the rescue part. Haha, how silly would that be?" Donut sounded a little flustered. "I mean, then we'd be stuck too. But the good news is, I didn't do that thing I wasn't going to do, so-"

He was cut off by a thundering boom and a blast forceful enough to knock both soldiers off their feet.

"Donut, you okay?" Unharmed himself aside from his shaken nerves, Doc stood up and slowly turned around. The rescue craft was aflame, black smoke smoldering from the engine. The cockpit glass lay in pieces around it. He caught a glance of an armored figure running from the scene at an impossibly fast speed before vanishing from sight. The pilot...

Well, Doc couldn't see much, but one gruesome glance suggested rescuing the pilot wouldn't do him any good at this point. He was definitely dead.

"...Donut?" He edged closer to the only trained, armored soldier of the three.

"Oh my God," Donut said, clinging to his rifle like it might run away from him. "Doc, why would anyone do that?! Where's Sarge? SAAARGE!" He took off running into the canyon.

Doc stared at the carnage one more time, doing his best to forcibly ignore the aggressive scratching at the inside of his mind that kept resurfacing in the face of stress, and ran after Donut.

His Spanish was pretty weak, but he was fairly certain Lopez was cursing.

 _(Author's note: And with that, we're caught up to the Archive Of Our Own posting, aka "everything that has been written up to this point." In other words, updates will slow to one chapter per, uh, whenever it gets finished. I generally try to update at least once a month, though I admit it can be spotty. Expect one before the end of September for sure._  
 _If you feel like reading it there instead, it's under Not Your War and I'm still CornetHummy there; I have a few other, shorter fics there that never made it to this part of the web._  
 _Next time, we'll finally catch up with our totally safe and secure friends in the canyon (and poor Ruby) and Amethyst will finally get some screentime. There may or may not be hot chocolate. Probably not.)_


End file.
